Amari Cooper's Iron Bowl Performance Shows That He Should Be Heisman Favorite

Amari Cooper is the hero the Heisman Trophy deserves.

Marcus Mariota remains the presumptive favorite to take home the Heisman. He threw for 367 yards and four touchdowns against Oregon State on Saturday. The Oregon Ducks quarterback in all likelihood will lift the award in New York City next month.

Heisman voters love quarterbacks, and Mariota's leading one of the best teams in the country. In truth, he wouldn't be an undeserving candidate.

But that doesn't change the fact that Cooper's the best offensive player in the country.

The Alabama star torched the Auburn secondary in the Crimson Tide's Iron Bowl win. His 224 receiving yards were an Iron Bowl record, per ESPN Stats & Info:

ESPN.com's Alex Scarborough gave his proverbial game ball to Cooper, writing:

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He couldn't be stopped. Though his quarterback, Blake Sims, struggled, Cooper played like a man on a mission. Three times he scored a touchdown, two of which came on plays on which he simply outran and outmaneuvered the coverage to get himself open. By the time it was all said and done, Cooper made his best case for the Heisman Trophy with 13 receptions for 224 yards and three scores.

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Every time the Tide needed a big play, they turned to Cooper. Chase Goodbread of NFL.com thought that Cooper booked a seat to New York after Saturday:

Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee went even further, arguing that the junior should be in line for the Heisman.

When asked after the game about whether the Iron Bowl will get him on the list of Heisman finalists, Cooper responded, "Hopefully," per John Zenor of The Associated Press, via ABCNews.com.

It's easy to argue that Cooper can't be all that valuable when Alabama's loaded with blue-chip recruits and led by the best coach in college football. And to a certain extent, that's a valid criticism.

But that hasn't stopped countless other players from loaded juggernauts from winning. Every star has outside factors that inflate his ability.

For Mariota, it's a relatively weak defensive conference and an up-tempo, high-powered offense. For Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin has no choice but to hand him the ball; Tanner McEvoy and Joel Stave can't exactly be trusted. The offensive line opens up holes almost any running back could navigate.

Cooper isn't really afforded distinct advantages his fellow Heisman contenders lack.

Even with the talent around him, his importance to the Alabama offense can't be understated.

Alabama is using a first-year offensive coordinator (Lane Kiffin), in addition to a first-year starting quarterback (Blake Sims). It's kind of tough to have a prolific offense when two of your biggest pieces are just getting used to the job.

There's no doubt that the mere presence of Cooper is enough to make both Sims' and Kiffin's jobs easier.

The field opens up more for Sims as secondaries shade to Cooper's side. He also has one heck of a security blanket when no one else is open. Against Auburn, Sims looked Cooper's way 16 times, five more than his other targets combined, per ESPN College Football:

For Kiffin, having a wideout so prodigiously talented opens up the playbook a little more, particularly with the play-action pass. When opposing defenses load up the box to stop T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry, Kiffin can look over the top to Cooper.

Kiffin and Sims obviously deserve plenty of credit for their own successes, but there's also no questioning how much help they've received.

In historical terms, the deck is stacked against Cooper. Tim Brown and Desmond Howard are the only two wide receivers to win the Heisman Trophy, and both played a role in the return game, thus meaning more opportunities to make game-breaking plays.

Brown and Howard also benefited from a lack of serious competition. Don McPherson and Casey Weldon were the runners-up in 1987 and 1991, respectively.

These days, the Heisman is almost a QB-exclusive award.

If Larry Fitzgerald can lose out on the 2003 Heisman Trophy to Jason White, then there's little hope of Cooper taking home the honor, or any receiver ever, for that matter.

Like with Fitzgerald, Cooper's otherworldly talent has become almost ordinary considering the frequency with which he performs at a high level:

However, Mariota's shadow looms large, like White's did in '03. Some voters may also value Gordon more. In the event Cooper's invited to New York, he'll remain a long shot.

In the grand scheme of things, the Heisman Trophy winner is largely arbitrary. It doesn't affect a player's draft stock or his Hall of Fame credentials, like MVP awards in professional sports.

Still, you want to see the best players in college football saluted appropriately. Cooper's the best offensive player in college football, and the voters should give him his just due.