Heisman Trophy 2011: Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden Should Be a Frontrunner

Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden is quarterbacking as well as anyone in the country for an undefeated, Top 10 team and putting up Heisman-quality numbers. Can we give the guy a bit of credit?

I’m not sure what the knocks are on this guy. Early in the season, people said that he was making poor decisions and trying to force too many balls. That was true. Weeden started the season with eight touchdowns to six interceptions.

Now, heading into game six of Oklahoma State’s season, would you like to guess how many interceptions Weeden has? He still has six, while his touchdown total has soared up to fifteen.

Some may say that Weeden is the product of a system at Oklahoma State, and that the system itself is the star. While the 28-year-old does play in a high volume passing system, he still has to be able to make those throws.

In ESPN’s “Depth Chart” program that was aired Wednesday evening, Cowboys’ offensive coordinator Todd Monken stated that Weeden could make “every” throw. Monken is right. Looking at film of Weeden, you see that he can make the short throws, long throws down the middle of the field, screen passes, and long fade routes.

Weeden knows this offense so well that he even has some experience calling his own plays. Few quarterbacks at the college level reach that level of mastery of an offense. Sure, lots of guys can audible, but calling your own original plays is something else entirely.

Andrew Luck, a clear Heisman favorite, is the only other one I’ve heard of currently in college football that has done anything similar. (Please let me know in the comments if you’ve heard of any others.)

Another knock on Weeden is the fact that he throws to one of, if not the, best wide receivers in college football. How good does a guy really have to be when he has someone that good to play catch with?

I see and understand this point, but it is made in error. Justin Blackmon is a better receiver overall than Weeden is a quarterback. However, it is Weeden that makes this offense go.

Last season, Blackmon accounted for about 40 percent of Weeden’s passing yardage, which supports the idea that Blackmon carried Weeden. But that was last year. This year, Blackmon has accounted for just 28 percent of Weeden’s passing yardage.

Weeden has spread the ball around beautifully. Six different receivers have multiple touchdown catches, six have double-digit receptions and nine have triple-digit yardage. That is a monstrously balanced passing offense.

A Heisman winner ultimately needs three ingredients: wins, stats, and leadership. Weeden is leading a Top 10, undefeated team, has the bulkiest stats in the country and  is a very solid leader that does not get rattled in the face of pressure (just ask Texas A&M).

Weeden should be at the front of the Heisman talk, especially if the Cowboys keep winning. A win at Texas on Saturday will only continue to fuel a Heisman fire that should already be burning brighter in the consciousness of college football followers.