Heisman Trophy Finalists: Robert Griffin III Is Not an Underdog in This Race

The Heisman finalists were announced and when you look at the five players on the ballot, you only notice a couple that had Heisman-hype coming into the season.

That, of course, would be Alabama running back Trent Richardson and Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. The other players including Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III was more of an afterthought before the season started.

Of course, it didn't take long for Griffin III to introduce himself to the college football world with his Week 1 performance against TCU. The Horned Frogs were a highly respected team in the polls, but Griffin III didn't care as he threw for 359 yards and five touchdowns.

That's arguably the best single-game performance of any of the Heisman finalists this season.

Robert Griffin III has an extremely strong case to win the award because of the outstanding numbers he's put up this season. His 72.4 completion percentage is good enough for fifth in the country. His 3,998 passing yards is sixth best in college football. And his 36 passing touchdowns is the best in the Big 12 and fourth in the country.

His completion percentage, passing yards and passing touchdowns are all higher than Andrew Lucks. He's also thrown three less interceptions than the Stanford quarterback.

You could argue that Griffin III has the most losses of any finalist on the ballot. That would be true but he's also playing in one of the toughest conferences in college football. And he has a defense that is ranked 109th out of 120 teams in points allowed. If it wasn't for Griffin III, the Bears may have even more losses and wouldn't have qualified for a bowl game.

Griffin III is also not playing behind arguably the best offensive line in college football like Andrew Luck. The Cardinal quarterback has only been sacked nine times this year and that's because he's protected by several guys that will be playing in the NFL one day. Griffin III is not, and if it wasn't for his mobility, he would have been sacked more times than the 23 times he already has.

Looking at the other finalists, you have Tyrann Mathieu who is a defensive player and isn't even the best cornerback on his team. He's made a few big plays on special teams but hasn't done much to stand out and win the award.

Trent Richardson and his Crimson Tide are going to the national championship game and he's had a great season. But many should question if he's even had the best season of all of the running backs.

Montee Ball has been a monster this season for Wisconsin and is putting up record numbers at the running back position. But the lack of competition the Badgers have played this season may hurt his chances of winning the award.

Robert Griffin III has put up off-the-chart numbers from Week 1 to the final game against the Texas Longhorns. All while playing an extremely difficult Big 12 schedule.

He may have been an underdog in this Heisman race in the beginning, but don't be surprised if he's the first player from Baylor to win the Heisman trophy.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]