Heisman Trophy Watch: Why Robert Griffin III Deserves Serious Consideration

The Heisman watch has become something more of a "Best Player on the Team Who is Going to Face LSU Watch" of late, and not a conversation about the most outstanding player in the country. Who says the most outstanding player needs to be on No. 2?

Has anyone noticed that RBG III is having an absolutely ridiculous season? 

Here are the top five quarterbacks in terms of passer rating:

Passing
Rk	Player	Year	School	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Int	Rate ▾
1	Russell Wilson	2011	Wisconsin	170	231	73.6	2506	26	3	199.3
2	Robert Griffin III	2011	Baylor	245	336	72.9	3572	33	5	191.7
3	Case Keenum	2011	Houston	309	421	73.4	4269	38	3	186.9
4	Kellen Moore	2011	Boise State	248	336	73.8	2915	35	6	177.5
5	Andrew Luck	2011	Stanford	241	343	70.3	2937	31	8	167.3

Only one QB in the nation has a higher rating, and he's not even close to Griffin in terms of attempts. Furthermore, Wilson has one of the top three backs in the country in Montee Ball.

That's not taking anything away from Wilson, who probably deserves a bit more consideration in his own right, but the reality is, he does have more help in the backfield than Griffin does. 

Case Keenum arguably has slightly better numbers overall. However, Keenum lacks signature wins. RBGIII has two, the opening game win against TCU in an absolute thriller and again last week against Oklahoma.

Against TCU, Griffin went 21-of-27 for 359 yards and five TDs. He added 38 yards on the ground. Against Oklahoma, he was 21-of-34 for 479 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 72 yards. He did not turn the ball over in either game. 

That's some signature play in signature wins. 

You can make an argument that he is the best quarterback in the country. On seven fewer attempts, he has passed for four more completions, more than 600 more yards, two more touchdowns and three fewer TDs. 

Maybe it's time to make this award more about what it's supposed to be about, Most Outstanding Player in the Country, and less about the player with the best chance of beating LSU in the National Championship Game. If we do, Griffin will vault up the rankings.