I recently submitted a ballot for a blogger Heisman poll hosted by The Blue Workhorse. You can see the results here; as you will see, Tim Tebow brought home the hardware, with Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy coming in second and third, respectively. In the interest of transparency but at the risk of angering Gatorpilot, here's my ballot.
1. Sam Bradford
2. Tim Tebow
3. Shonn Greene
Why did I go against my loyalty to the SEC and vote for Bradford over Tebow, you ask? Let's do a quick comparison of these two great QBs to find out.
A few things stand out to me here. First of all, Bradford threw for almost 4500 yards this year, he threw 48 TDs, and he has a 186.3 passer rating. Tebow, by comparison, has 2500 yards, 28 TDs, and a 176.7 rating. Both QBs have a similarly impressive TD-INT ratio. Clearly, Bradford has had the better year throwing the ball; he has, in fact, had one of the best we've seen in recent memory. Some will say that Tebow could have thrown for as many yards if called upon to do so. That's probably true; when you compare the two, they're fairly similar in terms of yards per completion. However, the fact of the matter is that the Gators don't throw the ball as much as Oklahoma and that Bradford has had the better year statistically.
A couple of other arguments for Tebow are that he (1) added over 500 yards on the ground and (2) has a special 'it' factor that goes along with being a team leader that picked his team up on his back after a tough loss and has led them the rest of the way. To me, the second of these is the more important; Tebow's rushing yards are impressive, but even with them he doesn't account for anywhere near the yardage Bradford has put up. However, it's undeniable that the guy has had a certain magic to him during the second half of the season. His performance in the SECCG, moreover, was flawless and stirring. For this reason, a lot of people say that Tebow deserves the award.
However, I think we should also pause and consider Bradford's leadership abilities. While Bradford may not be quite as visible or photogenic as a chest-pounding Tebow, you can't deny that Bradford has orchestrated one of the most potent offenses college football has seen in a long, long time. The Sooners have scored over 60 points in their last five games, they have scored over 50 in nine, and over 40 in all but one. Unlike Florida, moreover, the Sooners do this with offense; the Gators have a great offense, but a lot of their blowouts have come by virtue of opportunistic defensive and special teams play. And Bradford is the guy that makes it all click for Oklahoma. I say that if Tebow gets special credit for being a leader, Bradford gets credit for what he means to such a great offense. And while I'd like to say that Oklahoma doesn't have to go up against tough SEC defenses, saying that this year would be a little disingenuous. So that's why I picked Bradford.
As far as Greene goes, I couldn't fill out a Heisman ballot without voting for the country's best RB. He may or may not be as deserving as McCoy, but I just didn't think it would be right to vote for three QBs.
So, everyone, who would you vote for?