LSU QB Jordan Jefferson Is a Legitimate Heisman Contender

Over the past few days, I’ve spent a good amount of my downtime, thinking about this year’s top Heisman trophy candidates.

The usual faces and suspects keep popping up on all the lists I’ve seen so far.

Stanford QB Andrew Luck, Oklahoma QB Landry Jones, Boise State QB Kellen Moore and Oregon RB LaMichael James seem to be the almost universally agreed on top four favorites.

There are also guys like Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon, Baylor QB Robert Griffin III and South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore who should get plenty of preseason push as well this summer.

If Cam Newton’s out of nowhere Heisman performance last season taught us anything, it’s that you can never exactly predict which players are destined for greatness in a given season.

That’s why we love college football: it’s unpredictable.

No matter who we put on the magazine covers or who we start the Heisman campaigns for, it really has no bearing on who ultimately collects the hardware in December.

Last year everyone was talking about guys like Mark Ingram, Ryan Mallett and Terrelle Pryor, and none of them even made it to New York.

So, if you happen to be searching for a Newton-like Heisman dark horse for 2011, take a look at LSU QB Jordan Jefferson.

Yes, that Jordan Jefferson.

The same Jordan Jefferson that drove the LSU offense, which ranked last in the SEC in passing offense and next to last in total offense, straight into a wall last season.

The same Jordan Jefferson that finished 2010 with a 7-10 TD:INT ratio.

And yes, the same Jordan Jefferson who was in charge of the offense for that end of the game goal line debacle against Tennessee last season.

Remember though, that same Jordan Jefferson will have one all-important line on his Heisman resume.

That line, of course, being, “I’m the quarterback of a national title contender.”

Going into the season, LSU is on the shortlist of national championship hopefuls.

It’ very likely that the Tigers are  going to start off the season ranked somewhere in the top five.

This team is in position to contend in the extraordinarily competitive SEC West, and if they can somehow survive unscathed after all those conference battles, there’s no doubt they would be the most deserving of a championship game invite.

So, let’s say it’s December, and let’s say Jordan Jefferson has guided LSU to an undefeated season, an SEC championship and a berth in the title game. 

He’ll at least have to get an invite to New York, right?

His stats and the type of impact he plays in the high profile victories are two mighty big factors but the LSU signal caller doesn’t necessarily have to dominate like a Cam Newton or a Tim Tebow in order to receive consideration.

Even though Jefferson is far from the best player in college football, sometimes, as we’ve seen recently, that really doesn’t matter.

Just ask Troy Smith, Matt Leinart or Jason White.

Ask Eric Crouch or Chris Weinke.

If you get your team to the national title game and you don’t have any truly embarrassing performances along the way, given what’s happened in the past, you should definitely receive some Heisman buzz.

No question about it.

Now sure, there are the Craig Krenzels and the Matt Maucks of the world that have proved that sometimes it’s just fun to be along for the ride.

Nobody takes those types of guys seriously when it comes to a Heisman debate.

Jefferson, however, is no Craig Krenzel or Matt Mauck.

The former four star recruit out of Louisiana’s Destrehan High School certainly has the skills to be a star, but he’s got to stay consistent for it to actually happen.

At times in 2010, it looked as if Jefferson was so lost out on the field that he probably couldn’t have even spelled consistency.

Jefferson's 2010 stat line won't cut it this year, but the senior quarterback reportedly made great strides in the spring.

It feels weird to say this but all we really know about Jordan Jefferson is that he's still an unknown.

There's no telling what type of performance we will see from him this year.

If it goes well, and Jefferson ends up taking the Tigers to the promised land, don't be shocked if the one-time goat quickly turns into a coveted commodity.