Heisman Watch: Why Stanford QB Andrew Luck Has No Chance At College's Top Honor

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is an incredible player. In fact, there may be no better or more talented player in the entire nation. Despite that, Luck simply does not have a realistic chance to win the Heisman Trophy, awarded to college football's most outstanding player.

Luck's numbers are very comparable to what he did last season when he was the runner up to Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. Luck once again threw for over 3,000 yards while completing an incredible 70 percent of his passes. On top of that, Luck racked up 35 touchdowns as opposed to just nine interceptions.

Those numbers will almost certainly be enough to make Luck the No. 1 overall pick the NFL draft should he declare as expected, but it simply won't be enough to land him college football's highest honor. Perhaps the biggest reason for that is the presence of Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Just like Newton last season, Griffin is a phenomenal dual-threat quarterback who put up almost unfathomable numbers. Griffin finished just two yards shy of 4,000 passing yards, while adding 644 yards on the ground and 45 total touchdowns with a mere six interceptions.

Say what you will about Griffin playing in a gimmicky offense, but he played in a legitimate Big 12 conference and put those numbers up against high-caliber opponents, including a 479-yard, four-touchdown performance against Oklahoma.

While nobody would argue with the notion that Luck is the better traditional quarterback and that Luck will, in all likelihood, be more successful at the next level, that isn't what the Heisman Trophy is all about. The Heisman goes to college football's most outstanding player, and RGIII has been exactly that this season.

That isn't even to mention the stiff challenge that Alabama's Trent Richardson, Wisconsin's Montee Ball and LSU's Tyrann Mathieu will pose as well. Richardson has been the front-runner for much of the season, Ball has scored 38 touchdowns and Mathieu is a major contributor defensively and on special teams.

The Heisman has also tended to go to players in the BCS National Championship Game in recent years, so Richardson and Mathieu have an advantage in that regard. Ultimately, though, I believe that Griffin's Newton-esque numbers will be too eye-popping for the voters to ignore.

Luck has had an absolutely incredible career at Stanford. Unfortunately it doesn't seem as though he will come away with a Heisman Trophy. Whether he is awarded the hardware, though, it is very obvious that Luck's time at Stanford was Heisman-worthy. It's just a shame he had to contend with athletic freaks like Newton and Griffin.