Brutally Honest Heisman Breakdown - Week 12

Who's still in the Heisman chase? It's as open a race as ever with the big prize there for the taking. It'll all come down to the big games coming up.

2007 Brutally Honest Heisman Breakdown

Week Twelve

By Pete Fiutak   

- Heisman Rankings Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
Week 11

Let's cut through the garbage, the pomp, the circumstance, the PR BS, and the hype surrounding the greatest individual award in all of sports. The Heisman Trophy goes to the most celebrated quarterback or running back from a top BCS team or a top 25 non-BCS program, and while others will be acknowledged here if they have any prayer of potentially finishing in the top five, it'll take something extraordinary to get on this list. Let's not pretend the hot Sun Belt back or the dual threat MAC quarterback has an honest chance.

This isn't a ranking of the best players or top NFL prospects. This is an attempt to put the finger on the pulse of the Heisman chase. So without further ado, here are the current favorites AT THE MOMENT (and this will changed week after week with players moving in and out of categories

Ten players who should be in the race, but aren't in the picture ... 1) Jamaal Charles, RB Texas; 2) Kevin Smith, RB UCF; 3) Michael Crabtree, WR Texas Tech; 4) Jordy Nelson, WR Kansas State; 5) Matt Ryan, QB Boston College; 6) Graham Harrell, QB Texas Tech; 8) Chad Hall, RB/WR Air Force; 9) Ray Rice, RB Rutgers; 10) Chris Johnson, RB East Carolina

The Finalists Coming Down The Stretch

QB Colt Brennan, Sr. Hawaii
Last Week: Brennan completed two of two pass for 21 yards in the 28-26 win over Nevada.
After missing most of the Nevada game with a concussion, he's back for the showdown with Boise State for the WAC title. He won't win the Heisman because his stats aren't going to be strong enough, but he'll be a finalist if Hawaii goes unbeaten and to the BCS.

QB Chase Daniel, Jr. Missouri
Last Week: Daniel completed 28 of 41 passes for 284 yards and four touchdowns, and ran for four yards, in the 49-32 win over Kansas State.
All of a sudden, Daniel has gone from being an interesting outside candidate to one of the front-runners after getting his team in a position to challenge for the Big 12 and national titles. He's getting better as the season has gone on, throwing for 1,057 yards with 12 touchdowns and one interception in the last three games. Now the spotlight is on. If he blows up against Kansas and in the Big 12 title game, he might walk away with the grand prize.

QB Dennis Dixon, Sr. Oregon
Two Weeks Ago: Dixon completed 5 of 8 passes for 62 yards with an interception, and ran twice for 34 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Arizona.
The Heisman was there for the taking, and he certainly started off with a bang on national television against Arizona, but he tore his ACL early on and is now out for the season. He'll still likely finish in the top three unless there's a big push by someone else at the last second. He'll likely get the sympathy No. 3 vote.

DT Glenn Dorsey, Sr. LSU
Last Week: Dorsey made two tackles in the 41-24 win over Ole Miss.
While he doesn't have the quantifiable stats to point to, he's the nation's best defensive player and the star of the number one team in the country. He gums up the works so everyone else can operate. A case could be made that he's the most valuable player in America for what he does for the rest of the Tiger defense.

RB Matt Forte, Sr. Tulane
Last Week: Forte ran 39 times for 194 yards and five touchdowns, and caught a pass for 51 yards in the 45-31 win over Rice.
No one knows who he is, and almost no one has seen him play, but after a 194-yard day against Rice, he eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark with one more game to go. The nation's leading rusher has torn off 2,007 yards and 22 touchdowns, and now watch for the groundswell of last second support kick in. Don't be shocked if he ends up being third on several ballots.

RB Darren McFadden, Jr. Arkansas
Last Week: McFadden ran 28 times for 88 yards and a touchdown, and completed a pass for a 24-yard touchdown, in the 45-31 win over Mississippi State
The stats and wins aren't going to be there to get him the Heisman, but he's being generally acknowledged as the best player in America, That'll be rewarded handsomely in the 2008 NFL Draft and might make him a top three finalist. If he goes crazy and is the reason Arkansas beats LSU, then the Heisman race will have just gotten more interesting.

QB Todd Reesing, Soph. Kansas
Last Week: Reesing completed 21 of 26 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns, and ran for five yards in the 45-7 win over Iowa State.
With 30 touchdown passes and just four interceptions, and without a pick in his last six games, he's playing extremely well when the team has needed him the most. It's all up to what he does against Missouri this week. If he lead the Jayhawks to the win, he's a finalist. If he's terrific and leads the team to the Big 12 title and a berth in the national championship, he'll at least finish second.

QB Pat White, Jr. West Virginia
Last Week: White completed 13 of 19 passes for 140 yards and an interception, and ran 27 times for 155 yards and two scores in the 28-23 win over Cincinnati.
He has now become the better running version of Dennis Dixon. While he doesn't throw as much as the Oregon star, he's ultra-efficient with just three interceptions on the year and 11 touchdown passes to go along with 958 rushing yards and 12 scores. He has stepped up his play during the key final stretch and has been one of the main reasons West Virginia is still in the national title discussion.

And The Current Leader In The Clubhouse Is ...

QB Tim Tebow, Soph. Florida
Last Week: Tebow completed 25 of 34 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns with an interception, and ran 11 times for 31 yards and a touchdown, in the 59-20 win over Florida Atlantic.
And now the spotlight is on. Because he's a sophomore and because Florida has three losses, voters are trying to come up with reasons to not vote for him. If he was a senior, or if Florida won the SEC East, the race would be over. All he has done is run for 749 yards and 20 touchdowns while throwing for 26 scores and just six interceptions. He has been rock-solid steady from day one.