Meet the Supporting Cast for Each Heisman Trophy Finalist

On Monday, the three Heisman Trophy finalists were announced. They are Alabama running back Derrick Henry, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey. (By the way, you can compare their resumes here.)

Having a trio of finalists in what has been a wide-open year was surprising, but all three played on championship weekend, while other candidates, such as Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, did not. To think that didn't create separation is now provably false. 

While you may feel the list of Heisman finalists should be longer—and you're not wrong—there's nothing disappointing about the three chosen. They're all deserving in their own right. But they didn't get to this point by doing everything on their own. Every running back needs a good offensive line to pave the way and create holes. Every quarterback needs capable wide receivers. 

So before you get to know the 2015 Heisman finalists on Saturday, get to know the supporting cast who helped them get this far. 

Alabama

Derrick Henry's supporting cast: OL Cam Robinson, OL Ross Pierschbacher, OL Ryan Kelly, OL Alphonse Taylor, OL Dominick Jackson

Alabama's overall rushing offense is certainly effective. The Tide rank 27th nationally with 208.23 yards per game and 36th with 4.83 yards per rush. However, Henry has been superb. He averages about a yard more per rush than Alabama records as a team—remember, sacks play a role in rushing yards—and has 23 of the offense's 28 rushing touchdowns. 

The line itself has plenty of experience and is one of six finalists for the Joe Moore Award, which goes to the top offensive line in the country.

Cam Robinson is only a sophomore, but he started right away at the all-important left tackle spot as a true freshman (the last lineman to do so for Alabama was Andre Smith in 2006) and earned Freshman All-American honors. 

Ryan Kelly is the most experienced lineman in the group with 44 game appearances and 33 career starts. Dominick Jackson is a senior, and Alphonse Taylor is a junior. The only first-year player is Ross Pierschbacher, a redshirt freshman. 

The tale of the stat sheet says two things about Alabama's offensive line: The coaching staff trusts it (and Henry) late in games and on short-yardage situations. On the year, Alabama has run the ball 175 times in the fourth quarter for 824 yards and seven touchdowns. Those are more rushing attempts than any other quarter. 

As for short-yardage 3rd-and-4th situations, Bama runs the ball about 76 percent of the time on third downs of one to three yards to go. For fourth-down scenarios of any yardage, that number is about 50-50 in terms of pass-run. However, it should be noted Alabama has three rushing touchdowns on just 12 fourth-down rushing attempts (compared to zero touchdowns through the air).

The point being, Alabama finishes with authority through the ground game. Look no further than Henry's 37-yard touchdown on a 4th-and-1 against Wisconsin in Week 1:

Henry is a workhorse and is, according to OddsShark.com, the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman because of it. However, he's in this position because of his entire O-line. 

Clemson

Deshaun Watson's supporting cast: RB Wayne Gallman, WR Artavis Scott, WR Deon Cain, TE Jordan Leggett

If you can believe it, being a Heisman finalist on the No. 1 team in the country according to the playoff selection committee and all, Watson might actually be underrated. Yes, he has tremendous athleticism and can make plays with his feet; Clemson, in fact, has been utilizing that more in the past month. But Watson has a knack for making clutch throws late in games. His ball placement and touch on intermediate routes are special. He makes it look so easy at times one can forget just how good he is. 

However, Watson has a complete group of skill players around him that makes the offense go—all while missing receiver Mike Williams, who's been out for the year since Week 1 with a neck injury. 

Deon Cain has taken on Williams' role as of late as a big, vertical threat in the passing game. It can be tough for a freshman wideout to consistently make an impact, but the 6'2", 200-pound Cain has has come on strong late in the year. Of Cain's 34 receptions, nearly half (16) have come in the month of November. Additionally, he's averaging a team-best 17.12 yards per reception. 

Artavis Scott is the most reliable receiver and Watson's favorite target with 84 receptions, twice as many as the next-leading wideout. Like Cain this year, Scott burst onto the scene as a freshman with a team-best 76 receptions and eight touchdowns. Scott isn't the pure deep threat that Williams or Cain is, but he's capable of taking short passes and picking up chunk yards after the catch. 

Then there's Jordan Leggett, the Mackey Award finalist at tight end. Cain and Scott have been the two big-play wideouts, but Leggett is tied for second on the team with Cain with 34 receptions. Leggett has proved to be a valuable scoring option with a team-leading seven touchdowns. In all, the junior has six receptions in the red zone this year, four of which have gone for touchdowns. 

Rounding out the group is Wayne Gallman. If Watson is somehow underappreciated, Gallman might be more so. For a team that enjoys spreading out defenses, Clemson has an effective power running game thanks to the sophomore running back. It's a luxury to have a reliable running back who can grind out wins late in games, but that's what the Tigers have in Gallman. As Pro Football Focus noted, Gallman's performance against North Carolina in the ACC championship helped seal a win late: 

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Finishing the game with 187 yards, Gallman continued to churn out first down after first down as the Tigers increased their control of the game on offense. The defense may have allowed them back into the game late, but Gallman and the running game did their best to grind the game out and use up as much clock as possible.

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The sheer diversity of Clemson's skill players makes this offense 1) more than Watson and 2) difficult to defend. The Tigers can make plays underneath in the passing game and hurt you with the deep ball. They can grind out tough yards on the ground and force you to respect the quarterback running game. There's a reason why Clemson ranks fifth nationally in net points per drive, per BCFToys.com. 

Stanford

Christian McCaffrey's supporting cast: QB Kevin Hogan, OL Kyle Murphy, OL Joshua Garnett, OL Graham Shuler, OL Johnny Caspers, OL Casey Tucker

Talk about your veteran group. Of McCaffrey's immediate supporting cast, five are seniors. Only Casey Tucker is a sophomore.

Like Alabama, Stanford's O-line is a finalist for the Moore Award and for good reason. The Cardinal rank among the top 25 teams in college football in rushing yards per game, yards per rush and rushing touchdowns. McCaffrey's 1,847 rushing yards are second only to Henry's. 

The leader of the group is Joshua Garnett, an Outland Trophy finalist for best interior lineman who might have the single angriest play in college football this year. Check out Garnett (No. 51) below against Washington: 

Now that's what you call getting to the next level and finishing.

Garnett and Kyle Murphy are All-Pac-12 first-team selections, while Johnny Caspers and Graham Shuler are all-conference honorable mentions. Stanford has been more creative this year, thanks in large part to McCaffrey, but the bread and butter of this offense is that it will line up and pound the rock. Stanford is particularly good in short-yardage situations, as you would expect. When it needs to get a yard or two, Stanford usually does so with a high degree of success. 

Kevin Hogan is the other complementary player around McCaffrey, even though it's Hogan who touches the ball on practically every play. After taking a step back last year, Hogan has thrived in 2015. He's as confident and in command as ever. The ability to run is still there—Hogan has 79 rushing attempts—but his development as a passer has finally taken him to the another level. 

Unprompted, head coach David Shaw said he would put Hogan among the greatest quarterbacks to ever come through the program—a list that includes John Elway and Andrew Luck:

That's high praise given the context. But Hogan has played a lot of football, won a lot of games and been through a lot of ups and downs. McCaffrey gets the attention, and rightfully so, but Hogan is the centerpiece of the offense (and of the team). 

At minimum, each Heisman finalist will have one more game, though Henry and Watson have the opportunity for two more. If Stanford wins the Rose Bowl, and if either Alabama or Clemson wins the national championship, it will no doubt be because of their Heisman finalists. But it will also be because of the supporting cast around them that's put them in a position to succeed. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com unless noted otherwise.