Christian McCaffrey Wins AP Player of the Year: Latest Details and Reaction

Christian McCaffrey was the runner-up to Alabama running back Derrick Henry in the Heisman Trophy voting, but the Stanford Cardinal tailback can lay claim to at least one prestigious postseason award.

The Associated Press' Ralph D. Russo reported Tuesday that McCaffrey is the AP's college football player of the year, finishing ahead of Henry and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson:

Player	Team	First-Place Votes
Christian McCaffrey, RB	Stanford Cardinal	29
Derrick Henry, RB	Alabama Crimson Tide	16
Deshaun Watson, QB	Clemson Tigers	11
Keenan Reynolds, QB	Navy Midshipmen	2
Baker Mayfield, QB	Oklahoma Sooners	2

McCaffrey is the first Stanford player to earn the honor.

"This award is a testament to all the efforts and support of my teammates, coaches, staff and the entire Stanford football program," McCaffrey said, per Russo.

As Russo noted, he is in the small group to win AP Player of the Year after failing to capture the Heisman:

Henry can boast of being voted as college football's most outstanding player, but McCaffrey has arguably been the most dynamic individual in the country in 2015. He broke Barry Sanders' single-season all-purpose yards record in the Pac-12 Championship Game against USC. With 3,496 all-purpose yards, McCaffrey is more than 800 yards ahead of every other player in the FBS in that category.  

Since he played most of his games on the West Coast, much of McCaffrey's work went unnoticed by a large swath of the viewing public. He also didn't help himself by having poor showings, relatively speaking, in two of Stanford's most prominent matchups—the Cardinal's upset to Northwestern and the last-second victory over Notre Dame.

Fox Sports' Joel Klatt wasn't shy about heaping massive praise on McCaffrey earlier in December:

Since he's only a sophomore, McCaffrey will have at least one more chance to get his hands on the Heisman, and he'll undoubtedly be one of the early favorites when the 2016 season kicks off.

He'll have a massive target on his back, though, and with Kevin Hogan and Devon Cajuste graduating, the Cardinal will have fewer skill-position stars to attract the defense's attention away from the otherworldly running back.

Recapturing his form from this year won't be easy for McCaffrey when he lines up in the backfield next season.