With less than 3 games left in the regular season the major college football award selections have officially narrowed down their lists to a final 3. I've watched a ridiculous amount of college gridiron action again this season and if I had a vote these would be my selections. I obviously don't have a vote which is a crime in itself.
Chuck Bednarik Award (best defensive player)
Da’Quan Bowers, Jr., Clemson-Bowers gets my vote. He has twice the amount of sacks and TFL as Fairley but with a lot less fanfare. He will be a top 5 NFL pick.
Nick Fairley, Jr., Auburn-The JUCO transfer has literally been the one bright spot on the Tiger's defense and he has dominated every game I've personally watched. He probably will win the award because Auburn is undefeated but I will still take Bowers over him.
Patrick Peterson, Jr., LSU-Peterson is another incredible talent but I would have to pick Fairley over him as SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
Fred Biletnikoff Award (best receiver)
Justin Blackmon, So., Oklahoma State-Blackmon in a landslide vote. The guy has been incredible and has made Cowboy fans forget about Dez Bryant real quick.
Ryan Broyles, Jr., Oklahoma-I'm not a huge fan of Broyles and I personally think he is more a product of the system but whatever, his stats look great on paper.
Alshon Jeffery, So., South Carolina-Jeffery made some huge clutch catches for the Cocks and benefitted from the AJ Green suspension to earn SEC WR of the year.
Lou Groza Award (best kicker)
Dan Bailey, Sr., Oklahoma State-22-for-25 this season but not perfect.
Danny Hrapmann, Jr., Univ. of Southern Miss.-23-for-25 this season but then again not perfect.
David Ruffer, Sr., Notre Dame-They have to give the award to Ruffer, or Rufner as Tom Hammond always calls him. The walk-on never even played organize football till he tried out for Notre Dame through the intramural program. He is a PERFECT 15-for-15 this season and literally every one of his kicks have been right down the middle. It will be a crime if he doesn't win.
Ray Guy Award (best punter)
Drew Butler, Jr., Georgia-Butler has been a little inconsistent with his punting.
Ryan Donahue, Sr., Iowa-No fucking clue honestly.
Chas Henry, Sr., Florida-With Addazio calling the plays Henry has gotten a ton of work. In fact he deserves to win it and should personally thank Addazio for the piss poor Gators offense.
Maxwell Award (best all-around player)
First off let me say that this is a crying shame that Denard Robinson is not on this list. I hate Michigan but if you have watched college football this year there should be little doubt Robinson is one of if not the best all-around player in the game. He has literally carried Michigan all season and probably saved DickRod's job in Ann Arbor. If they had any defense he would be the Heisman frontrunner. Oh yeah and he is the only guy in college football history to rush for 1500 yards and throw for over 1500 yards in a season. He also is the all-time leading rusher for a QB in one season. Shoelace deserves to be on this list.
Andrew Luck, Jr., Stanford-Luck is the best pure quarterback in the nation. Unfortunately for him Newton is having a better overall season in a tougher defensive conference.
Kellen Moore, Jr., Boise State-Moore is a great player but Shoelace should have been a finalist instead of him.
Cam Newton, Jr., Auburn-Newton has carried Auburn all season. He is their team. Without him Auburn has 4 losses minimum. He deserves the award.
Davey O’Brien Award (best quarterback)
Andrew Luck, So., Stanford-If Luck gets Stanford to the Rose Bowl with an 11-1 record with the only loss being to #1 Oregon then I think he is the best quarterback in the nation and deserves this award. I know it's confusing but if I had to pick one guy who I would want behind center with less than two minutes to go and could drive us down the field for the winning score it would be Luck. Luck is a franchise QB and he has running/scrambling ability.
Kellen Moore, Jr., Boise State-Good for him for being a finalist but I would rather have Newton, Luck and Robinson right now.
Cam Newton, Jr., Auburn-Luck is a better passer in my opinion. Nothing against Newton because the Heisman is basically his but I think Luck is the better QB.
Outland Trophy (best interior lineman)
I can't honestly pick a winner here because I've seen very little of these guys play. So I will just leave it up to you the reader to pick.
Gabe Carimi, Sr., Wisconsin
Rodney Hudson, Sr., Florida State
Nate Solder, Sr., Colorado
Jim Thorpe Award (best defensive back)
Prince Amukamara, Sr., Nebraska-I know I'm going to get some flack from Husker Nation but Prince is kinda overrated. Or maybe he just didn't have a great season. He got burnt a lot.
Tejay Johnson, Sr., TCU-Looked good but it's pretty obvious who wins this award.
Patrick Peterson, Jr., LSU-Without a doubt the winner. Peterson will be the first CB taken in the NFL draft.
Doak Walker Award (best running back)
This has been a rather shitty year for running backs. In fact I would rather take Cam or Shoelace as a running back then any of these three finalists. All of these guys have holes in their games. So in conclusion I don't like any of these guys for the Doak Walker but if I had to pick one I would say....Shoelace.
John Clay, Jr., Wisconsin
Kendall Hunter, Sr., Oklahoma State
LaMichael James, So., Oregon
HEISMAN TOP 5
1. Cam Newton
2. Denard "Shoelace" Robinson
3. Andrew Luck
4. Patrick Peterson
5. Justin Blackmon
