Heisman Watch 2015: Ranking Top Favorites in the Race

December 12 looms for college football's greatest players as the 2015 Heisman watch continues.

It's been a wild ride to date, with LSU Tigers' Leonard Fournette slipping in the ranks only to be usurped by Alabama Crimson Tide's Derrick Henry. Florida State Seminoles' Dalvin Cook has had something to say in what looks like a year of the running back, though.

When it comes to unexpected breakout players, this race seems to offer more than usual. Stanford Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey continues to play out of his mind, and Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds also might earn himself an invitation to New York.

Below, let's look at rankings for the top players in the race based on performances, level of opposition and more before breaking down a few in detail.

2015 Heisman Watch Rankings 

Rank	Name	Pos.	Team
1	Derrick Henry	RB	Alabama
2	Dalvin Cook	RB	Florida State
3	Deshaun Watson	QB	Clemson
4	Christian McCaffrey	RB	Stanford
5	Keenan Reynolds	QB	Navy
6	Corey Coleman	WR	Baylor
7	Baker Mayfield	QB	Oklahoma
8	Leonard Fournette	RB	LSU
9	Dak Prescott	QB	Mississippi State
10	Luke Falk	QB	Washington State

Rankings Analysis

Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama

What more is there to say about Henry?

Henry's an absolute stat monster, which makes his sitting in first place a tad controversial. But his Crimson Tide continue to rack up the wins after the mid-September gaffe at the hands of Ole Miss, behind his gaudy 1,526 yards and 21 touchdowns on 249 attempts.

As the SEC Network illustrated, Henry's numbers compare quite well to a former member of the team, to say the least:

Critics will knock Henry down a peg for the level of the talent around him, which looks like a valid point. But keep in mind, he has run for more than 200 yards in three games this year in critical SEC encounters against Texas A&M, LSU and Mississippi State.

All that stands between Henry now and what looks like a sure thing is Auburn and the potential performances of others. It's hard to say which poses a bigger threat, but the talent creeping up behind him certainly deserves mention.

Dalvin Cook, RB, Florida State

Mark Wallheiser/Associated Press

Observers shouldn't find it all too surprising if Cook makes a serious late surge and pushes Henry for the trophy. 

Cook isn't far off the FBS rushing lead with 1,475 yards and 16 touchdowns, yet he's done the impressive damage on just 185 carries. To paint it even clearer, the sophomore missed a full game and carried it just two times against Wake Forest, thanks to injury.

Not impressed? Consider how Cook gets his yards, against who and how it compares to other Heisman contenders, as captured in graph form by ESPN's David Hale:

This year, Cook is the champion of those who boast that wins shouldn't mean quite as much as they do in the Heisman race. Despite the eye-popping numbers, the Seminoles are a two-loss team thanks to a road upset at the hands of three-win Georgia Tech before a 10-point loss to then-No. 1 Clemson a few weeks later.

The Cook-hype train will only continue to gain more speed as things inch closer to the trip to New York, especially if he can put on a show against No. 12 Florida to end the season.

The Cook-Henry battle might say much about future award outcomes, too.

Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

Then again, an unexpected surprise could come if  McCaffrey has something to say about the competition.

McCaffrey plays late at night on the West Coast for Stanford, which might explain why he doesn't have more hype. He should. He's at 1,546 rushing yards and seven scores, his most recent performance a school-record, 389-yard outburst of all-purpose production to take down California and put his team in the Pac-12 title game.

Not only that, he's now looking at the record for all-purpose yards in a year, the gaudy number of 3,250, right in the face. Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer looked at his numbers in comparison to others:

For his part, McCaffrey would rather focus on the team than individual hardware.

"I'm not really focused on all the individual statistics right now or anything like that,'' McCaffrey said, according to Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News. "If that does happen, great ... We're just focused on winning this next game."

While a great sentiment, McCaffrey might be well on his way to New York. If he breaks a few records along the way, voters might not have as easy a time with the decision as they once thought.

Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.