College Football 2011: Heisman Trophy Watch Heading into Week 7

Each team has played five or six games to date, and the Heisman Trophy contenders are beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the pretenders.

Some guys needed to make a statement this week and they did exactly that.

On the other hand, injuries can play a big role in contending for the Heisman Trophy. Oregon's LaMichael James was red hot and climbing before dislocating an elbow, which will likely keep him out of action for a bit and drop him out of the rankings.

Let's take a look at who's in and who's out of this weeks Heisman Trophy rankings.

Just Missed the Cut

Last Two Out: Matt Barkley, Case Keenum

Dropped Out: Marcus Lattimore, LaMichael James, Kellen Moore

Also considered: Geno Smith, Lamar Miller, David Wilson, Justin Blackmon, Chris Rainey, Taylor Martinez, Michael Dyer and many others

10. Brandon Weeden

Last Week: 229 passing yards, five touchdowns

2011 Stats: 1881 passing yards, 15 touchdowns (five games)

Last Week's Ranking: NR

Weeden continues to put up huge numbers, and as long as the Cowboys keep winning, he has to keep drawing consideration.

9. Ray Graham

Last Week: 162 yards rushing, one touchdown

2011 Stats: 838 rushing yards, nine touchdowns (six games)

Last Week's Ranking: NR

First of all, I know Pitt stinks, but Graham is a stud. He may not be a popular choice to make this list, but his numbers speak for themselves.

He has accumulated more than 1,000 yards of total offense so far on the season and saved his best performance for a Thursday night prime-time game against South Florida a week ago.

Graham is second in the nation in rushing and, with the injury to James, deserves to make an appearance on this list. 

8. Tyrann Mathieu

Last Week's Ranking: 10

This kid could be the best football player in the nation, but do people realize that enough to consider him for the Heisman Trophy?

Likely not, and his numbers aren't exactly eye popping, but this kid is a game-changer.

7. Robert Woods

Last Week: Bye

2011 Stats: 55 receptions, 747 yards, six touchdowns (five games)

Last Week's Ranking: NR

Possibly the biggest playmaker in the nation, Woods leads the nation in both receptions and receiving yards and is on pace to finish with some outstanding numbers.

6. Trent Richardson

Last Week: 107 rushing yards, one touchdown

2011 Stats: 727 yards rushing, 13 touchdowns (six games)

Last Weeks Ranking: 7

Richardson hit the 100-yard mark for the fifth game in a row and continues to be a touchdown machine for the Tide.

His season so far deserves to be higher on the list, but there are five quarterbacks having just fantastic seasons.

5. Russell Wilson

Last Week: Bye

2011 Stats: 1,383 passing yards, 184 rushing yards, 15 touchdowns (five games)

Last Week's Ranking: 2

Wilson and the Badgers were off this week so he didn't have the opportunity to keep up with some of the guys ahead of him, who had big statistical weeks.

4. Robert Griffin III

Last Week: 210 yards passing, 125 yards rushing, three touchdowns

2011 Stats: 1,400 passing yards, 305 rushing yards, 22 touchdowns (five games)

Last Week's Ranking: 3

Griffin drops a little bit, but is still in the thick of the race. If he can lead the Bears to a couple of wins over some ranked opponents the rest of the way, he could again become one of the favorites.

3. Denard Robinson

Last Week: 338 passing yards, 113 rushing yards, four touchdowns

2011 Stats: 762 rushing yards, 1,134 passing yards, 17 touchdowns (six games)

Last Week's Ranking: 6

Robinson put on a show once again as the Wolverines remained undefeated. He doesn't just lead all quarterbacks in the nation in rushing, he nearly leads everyone in rushing.

He's carrying Michigan offensively. The only thing keeping him from being higher on the list is I would like to see him put up the same numbers against some better teams, but that will come sooner rather than later.

2. Andrew Luck

Last Week: 374 passing yards, three touchdowns

2011 Stats: 1,385 passing yards, 15 touchdowns (five games)

Last Week's Ranking: 1

Luck finally put up a Heisman-like statistical game in Stanford's win over Colorado. He drops a spot, though, because even though the Heisman Trophy isn't all about stats, the numbers still have to be there.

Our new No. 1 has done that more consistently over the past few weeks.

1. Landry Jones

Last Week: 367 passing yards, three touchdowns

2011 Stats: 1,797 passing yards, 15 touchdowns (five games)

Last Weeks Ranking: 4

Jones has been on fire of late, throwing for 1,239 yards and 12 touchdowns in his last three games, including 367 and three against rival Texas.

He also holds some wins over a couple of ranked teams at the time in Florida State and Texas, so he gets the bump up to the No. 1 spot. His overall resume just looks a little bit better than Luck's at this point in the season.

How he does against the tough competition coming up on the road will determine if he will bring home the Heisman Trophy.