Heisman Watch 2011: Which Heisman Hopefuls Are Circling the Drain?

Sometimes, the Heisman hype is just a little too much. Sometimes, the team around the stars isn't good enough to help them out. Sometimes, they were never really as good as we thought they were.

For whatever reason, a lot of early season Heisman Trophy hopefuls fall from the lofty pedestal we place them on. Their stock drops like a Wall Street nightmare—or the last six years, whichever you prefer.

For others, it's not so dramatic as all that. They remain firmly in the hunt, yet dangle dangerously on the edge of becoming overrated.

So, which 2011 Heisman hopefuls are seeing their chances of hoisting the most famous trophy in college football circle the drain?

Bleacher Report is your home for college football for the 2011 season. From scores, news, analysis, live blogs and updates on your favorite teams and the big national games every week, keep it on Bleacher Report for the very latest in college football news.

Chris Rainey, RB Florida

Rainey has put together a solid season so far, no doubt about it. Before Saturday night's game against Kentucky, Rainey is averaging an astounding 6.38 yards per carry, has scored two touchdowns, and has helped lead the Gators to a perfect 3-0 start.

So, why are his Heisman hopes circling the drain?

Simply put, he's in a whale of a class of Heisman hopefuls.

He's having to compete with the likes of Stanford's Andrew Luck, Boise State's Kellen Moore and South Carolina's Marcus Lattimore.

Those are hefty names to try and show-up. Toss in the fact that Baylor's Robert Griffin III is having a tremendous breakout year, Wisconsin's Russell Wilson is making waves and Michigan's Denard Robinson is still impressing spectators.

As unfortunate as it may be, Rainey is a world-class athlete competing in a year full of world-class athletes.

Also, if you look at the names above, all but one (Marcus Lattimore) are quarterbacks. The QB's are getting all the attention right now, and Rainey would have to put up mind-blowing numbers to break into their ranks.

He doesn't necessarily deserve to be overlooked. Rainey is a tremendous running back. He's just unfortunate enough to be part of a deeply talented class.

Ronnie Hillman, RB San Diego State

Ronnie Hillman has a couple of things working against him this year.

For starters, as mentioned in the first slide, this is a quarterback year. With guys like Andrew Luck, Kellen Moore, Denard Robinson and Russell Wilson stealing the headlines, running backs are finding it hard to get the kind of Heisman love they may have enjoyed in seasons past.

That's just bad luck.

Another thing working against Hillman though, is the team he plays for.

It's not right. It shouldn't matter; however, we've seen before how a fantastic athlete playing for a lesser known team gets overlooked for Heisman love.

San Diego State jumped out to a nice 3-0 start that included wins over Army and Washington State. Those aren't impressive enough victories to catapult SDSU into the national spotlight. A 28-7 loss to Michigan today didn't help matters at all.

Heisman winners are supposed to lead their teams to victory, plain and simple. Again, it's not right, but it's what we've seen in the past.

Coming into today, Hillman had rushed for 497 yards (6.45 average) and eight touchdowns. He added another 109 yards (5.2 average) against the Wolverines, but will that be enough to put him in league with Marcus Lattimore of South Carolina?

Unfortunately, unless Hillman's team can come up with some big wins this year, and he can put up numbers that break Playstation records, he's likely going to continue watching the Heisman race as an "also-ran".

Taylor Martinez, QB Nebraska

Oh, I'm gonna take some flack for this one. That's okay though. I stand behind it.

Martinez is a Heisman caliber quarterback in the making. He's just not there yet.

Listed on a number of Heisman watch-lists (Including CBSSports), he hasn't sufficiently impressed enough to be at the top of any of them, however.

Through the first three games of the season, Martinez has completed less than 50 percent of his passes, amassed 490 yards and thrown a trio of touchdowns with a pair of interceptions. Those aren't Heisman-type numbers.

Of course, he's also averaged 7.53 yards per carry on the ground and scored six times with his feet. Those are Heisman-type numbers. Not necessarily as a quarterback, though.

The thing is, Nebraska's offense has been good, but not necessarily great. They've won their first three games (play Wyoming at 7:00 PM ET), but haven't yet put together the kind of "wow" victory that really draws attention to the program and its young quarterback.

Martinez isn't completely out of the race, and could easily work his way back into the thick of it.

For now, however, he's competing against the same group I've already mentioned—many of whom have already had season-defining games—and has yet to showcase anything that would draw attention away from those competitors.

He's a sophomore, so there's plenty of time for him to take home the hardware, but so far this year, his hopes are sinking quickly.

LaMichael James, RB Oregon

Here's another one I'm going to take some heat for.

James is arguably one of the best running backs of all-time. At least, his numbers sure do look fantastic.

Then why is his stock dropping?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is a quarterback class. The running backs aren't getting the attention the QB's are getting. Look at virtually any Heisman watch-list and you'll see four quarterbacks in the top five.

The lone running back that appears to be hanging with the rock-tossers is Marcus Lattimore.

James is averaging a jaw-dropping 7.74 yards per carry carry and has five touchdowns to his credit. How is that not Heisman worthy?

The answer to that is because the vast majority of those yards have come against Nevada and Southwest Missouri State.

The opening week against LSU, James managed just 54 yards on 18 carries and one touchdown. In other words, against the only truly good defense he's faced, James was less than effective and his team lost.

That's not what Heisman voters are looking for.

James needs great numbers against quality opponents to get back in the chase. Unless and until that happens, his hopes of hoisting the hardware is heading for the drain.