Top 2015 Candidates Capable of Ending the Running Back Heisman Drought
Considering the muse for the Heisman Trophy statue was a running back, you'd think the position would stand a better chance to win it each year. Instead, the award given to the nation's top overall player has become an unofficial Quarterback of the Year honor.
Could this be the year the tide turns back to the ball-carriers, who as recently as the 1970s and early 1980s dominated the podium at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City? Considering the talent at the position, it's very possible.
Running backs won the Heisman 12 straight times from 1972 to '83—including the only two-time winner, Ohio State's Archie Griffin—and they finished first and second in many years, sometimes also in third.
Then college football evolved and became more of a passing game, and from 1984 to 2014 a quarterback was awarded the Heisman 20 times. Alabama's Mark Ingram was the last running back to win the Heisman, in 2009, a year that happened to have a dearth of worthy QB candidates.
Since then, running backs have finished in the top three just three times, with the second-place finish by Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon in 2014 serving as the top result for the position. And he had less than half as many votes as winner Marcus Mariota, a quarterback.
There are quite a few notable passers who will be top Heisman candidates this year, but the running back crop is as deep as ever. Here's a look at the 10 best chances for the rusher to take back the trophy in 2015.
Devontae Booker, Utah
1 of 10
Year: Senior
Height, weight: 5'11", 212 lbs
2014 stats: 1,512 rushing yards, 10 TD; 43 rec., 306 yards, 2 TD
While at this point the Heisman talk surrounding Utah's Devontae Booker is coming mostly out of his own campus, he does get rave reviews from coaches in the Pac-12.
Stanford defensive coordinator Lance Anderson told Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports that "no one really stands out as being better than him," and that came from someone on one of the three conference opponents Booker did not gain at least 100 yards against in 2014.
After getting little use during the nonconference slate, Utah unleashed the junior college transfer in its Pac-12 opener, and Booker promptly ran for 178 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries against Washington State. A week later he had 156 yards and a score in the Utes' upset win at UCLA. The next time out, he had 229 yards and three TDs in an overtime win at Oregon State.
Overall, Booker had seven 100-yard games and averaged 26.1 carries after becoming the workhorse. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham seems determined to run him past 2,000 yards this fall, and if his team can contend for the conference title, that will keep Booker in the Heisman conversation.
Nick Chubb, Georgia
2 of 10
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 5'10", 220 lbs
2014 stats: 1,547 rushing yards, 14 TD; 18 rec., 213 yards, 2 TD
For the first six weeks of his college career, Nick Chubb was a promising young runner who came to Georgia with a lot of hype, but he would have to wait his turn to flourish. The Bulldogs had Todd Gurley in front of him, and with Gurley considered a top Heisman pick early in 2014, there was no reason to turn to an untested freshman.
Then Gurley was hit with a four-game NCAA suspension, and the Chubb era began in Athens.
Chubb ran for 100 or more yards in all eight of his starts, the first of which was a grind-it-out, 38-carry, 143-yard performance in a key road win over Missouri. A week later he demolished Arkansas' strong defensive front en route to 202 yards and two scores.
He saved his best for last, setting a school bowl record with 266 yards and two TDs against Louisville in the Belk Bowl. He ended up tying Garrison Hearst for the fourth-most yards by a Bulldog in a single season. The other three marks were by Herschel Walker, Georgia's last Heisman winner in 1982.
James Conner, Pittsburgh
3 of 10
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'2", 250 lbs
2014 stats: 1,765 rushing yards, 26 TD; 5 rec., 70 yards
With the way running backs have been ignored by Heisman voters of late, just to have one's name mentioned alongside a past winner is enough to warrant consideration. But James Conner did more than that—he also topped Tony Dorsett's Pittsburgh school record for touchdowns (23), which he set during his Heisman-winning campaign in 1976.
The 26 TDs Conner rumbled to a year ago are also an ACC record, and 16 of them came in conference play, as did 1,098 of his rushing yards.
Conner actually began his push toward becoming a dominant runner at the tail end of his freshman year in 2013, when after limited use for much of the season he busted out for 229 yards and a TD to beat Bowling Green in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
Not bad for a 3-star prospect who was recruited to Pitt as an outside linebacker or defensive end.
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Dalvin Cook, Florida State
4 of 10
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'0", 203 lbs
2014 stats: 1,008 rushing yards, 8 TD; 22 rec., 203 yards
While Florida State's recent run of having quarterbacks taken in the first round of the NFL draft is quite impressive, the school has also produced some decent running backs such as Edgar Bennett, Warrick Dunn and Leon Washington.
Dalvin Cook is well on his way to being added to that list after setting a slew of Seminoles freshman rushing records in 2014 despite minimal use during the first month of the season. He was best in the latter stages of the year, topping 100 yards in each of his final three games, though some costly fumbles in the Rose Bowl loss to Oregon tarnished his overall year.
Cook has taken that experience to heart in an effort to improve his game, placing "an emphasis to run with two hands on the ball when he's in a crowd to avoid future fumbles," per Safid Deen of the Tallahassee Democrat.
Most of the attention will again be paid to FSU's quarterback, even more so now that Notre Dame graduate Everett Golson is joining the battle to replace Jameis Winston. But whoever ends up running the offense this fall would be best served to give the ball to Cook as often as possible.
Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State
5 of 10
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 6'0", 229 lbs
2014 stats: 1,878 rushing yards, 18 TD; 28 rec., 220 yards
The Ezekiel Elliott we saw run over, around and through Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon en route to a national championship last winter was playing hurt and without the ability to carry the ball in both arms. Now that he's been medically cleared following left wrist surgery, we'll get to see what a fully healthy Elliott is capable of.
And that's downright scary.
It might have just looked like a player quirk that Elliott only held the ball on his right side while running for 696 yards and eight touchdowns in Ohio State's three postseason games, though as each of his 36 carries broke the hearts of Oregon fans in the title game, there was no way to tell he was injured.
Elliott has been atop Bovada's list of Heisman odds for 2015 for the entire offseason, now sitting at 6-to-1 (via Odds Shark). He'll have plenty of opportunities to enhance his reputation and profile, as the Buckeyes' quest to repeat as champions will draw constant media attention.
Royce Freeman, Oregon
6 of 10
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 5'11", 230 lbs
2014 stats: 1,365 rushing yards, 18 TD; 16 rec., 158 yards, 1 TD
The battle between Jeff Lockie and Vernon Adams Jr. to replace Heisman winner Marcus Mariota as Oregon's quarterback will have a huge impact on how the Ducks fare in 2015. But in either case, they know Royce Freeman is there to do his work and could probably stand to get even more involved.
Freeman became the first Oregon true freshman to top the 1,000-yard mark, though he wore down in the postseason and had only 66 yards on 22 carries between the Rose Bowl and CFP National Championship. But before then, he'd topped 100 yards six times, and his quick grasp of Oregon's complex playbook prompted the coaching staff to slide Byron Marshall (a 1,000-yard rusher in 2013) to wide receiver.
In order for Freeman to get serious Heisman consideration, though, he has to become the focal point of the offense. That wasn't the case for running backs during Mariota's three-year run, but if there's any uncertainty at that position after Adams or Lockie takes over, the Ducks can turn to Freeman to power out key yardage.
Leonard Fournette, LSU
7 of 10
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 6'1", 230 lbs
2014 stats: 1,034 rushing yards, 10 TD; 7 rec., 127 yards
Leonard Fournette has already shown he can do the Heisman pose, showing off after he scored his first career touchdown in September. And while he ended up setting an LSU freshman rushing record by season's end, Fournette has only begun to scratch the surface of his abilities.
We saw a glimpse of what Fournette was truly capable of down the stretch in 2014, with 289 rushing yards and three touchdowns in his final two games as well as a 100-yard kickoff return TD in the Music City Bowl. And that was at the tail end of a season in which he'd had little time to learn the playbook or get his body fully prepared for the college game.
Fournette will now have a full offseason of training and strength development, and LSU's unsettled quarterback situation makes it likely he'll be utilized as much as possible at the outset.
"He's spent the offseason reshaping his body," wrote Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com. "He's five pounds lighter but significantly stronger and faster. At 225 pounds, he said he can still clock a 4.3 40, which should be terrifying news for SEC opponents."
Samaje Perine, Oklahoma
8 of 10
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 5'11", 237 lbs
2014 stats: 1,713 rushing yards, 21 TD; 15 rec., 108 yards
While there are several other running backs who will enter 2015 with a better chance to win the Heisman, Samaje Perine has something none of the field has: his name in the NCAA record books.
Perine holds the FBS single-game rushing record, going for 427 yards with five touchdowns in a November win over Kansas. That came just a week after Melvin Gordon set the record with 408 yards en route to the second-most rushing yards in a season ever and a second-place Heisman finish.
But Perine didn't get nearly as much attention for his overall body of work as Gordon or other rushers, including several who ran for quite a bit less yardage, because Oklahoma struggled to an 8-5 record and was inconsistent on offense. This was despite Perine topping 200 yards three times and going for 100 or more in six games.
Oklahoma has revamped its offense for 2015, moving back to the Air Raid passing scheme that was so successful in the past. On the surface, this could severely damage Perine's Heisman hopes, but Sooners coach Bob Stoops believes otherwise.
"I believe, with our ability to throw the football in a more positive way, he may have better opportunities to run the football…more room to run the football," Stoops told Ryan Aber and Jason Kersey of the Tulsa World. "That's what we are after. I believe that can happen."
Paul Perkins, UCLA
9 of 10
Year: Junior
Height, weight: 5'11", 198 lbs
2014 stats: 1,575 rushing yards, 9 TD; 26 rec., 201 yards, 2 TD
In a league dominated by quarterbacks last season, Paul Perkins managed to post the 15th-most rushing yards in the country. He did this with six 100-yard efforts without ever carrying the ball more than 24 times in a game, since UCLA's offense was so heavily dictated by quarterback Brett Hundley.
Hundley is gone now, and the Bruins appear headed for a season with a true freshman (Josh Rosen) in his place. As lauded as Rosen is, though, he might not be asked to do too much early on in an effort to settle into his role, which means Perkins will be called on to take more responsibility.
This is a far cry from earlier in Perkins' career, when he wasn't considered ready to handle the job and UCLA regularly turned to linebacker Myles Jack to handle the rushing duties. But after Hundley was hurt early in a September game against Texas, Perkins stepped up and ran for a career-best 126 yards while also catching five passes for 69 yards.
"Competing for a Heisman is always there, but I have team goals I need to accomplish first," Perkins told Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer. "And if a Heisman comes along, so be it."
Nick Wilson, Arizona
10 of 10
Year: Sophomore
Height, weight: 5'10", 199 lbs
2014 stats: 1,375 rushing yards, 16 TD; 12 rec., 90 yards, 1 TD
While Nick Wilson's production wasn't as high (or as high-profile) as other freshman running backs last season, he did more than enough to make Arizona fans briefly forget the school's career rushing leader had been in that position the season before. And considering he ran for more than three times what Ka'Deem Carey did in his first year, it's hard not to get excited about what Wilson can do in the future.
Injuries and fatigue were all that could slow Wilson, who missed a game because of a sprained ankle and was limited in others because of that and a concussion. He still managed to top 100 yards in six games, including his first three college appearances, and he ran for 500 yards and eight touchdowns in wins over Washington, Utah and Arizona State that helped the Wildcats claim the Pac-12's South Division.
To keep him fresh and healthy, Arizona kept Wilson off the field for much of this spring. That should help him be in a better condition to handle a full workload as a sophomore, and with coach Rich Rodriguez's preference to be as balanced on offense as possible, this will mean getting at least 20 touches per game.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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