Heisman Finalists: The Biggest Drawback of Every Finalist for the 2011 Award

The Heisman Trophy is the most prestigious award in college football. The trophy winners are among the most elite players. Win it, and your life will change forever.

Before every season, everybody throws out several players who have a chance at winning the award. Some are favorites; others are dark horses who, if they are able to play to their potential, have an outside shot of winning the trophy.

The reality is that there are many talented college football players, but only a handful have a chance of winning the Heisman.

Every candidate this season has had a fantastic year, but of course there are a couple flaws in every player.

Here is the biggest drawback for each candidate that may cost each individual the award.

Tyrann Mathieu

Tyrann Mathieu is a huge reason for the Tigers success and LSU wouldn't be where they are without him. Not only has he made big plays all season on defense and special teams but they all came at a time when the Tigers needed it most.

What may cost Mathieu the award is the simple fact that he plays defense.

Only one defensive player has ever won the Heisman and Charles Woodson had to make plays on offense as well to win the award. That's about the only thing that the "Honey Badger" has not done this season.

Offensive stats are a lot sexier than defensive statistics and the offensive players are more glorified.

Another thing that may cost him the award that nobody is talking about is the positive drug test earlier in the season. I doubt it plays a huge factor this season in the voting, but it probably would if he was a more serious candidate.

Montee Ball

Montee Ball is putting up ridiculous numbers this season and has a chance to break Wisconsin and NCAA records. He's rushed for 1,759 yards and has 38 total touchdowns, which is just unbelievable.

He's really turned it up lately, rushing for 906 yards and 17 total touchdowns in the last five games.

No question he is a serious candidate for the award.

However, Ball's drawback would be lack of a great start early on in the season and the lack of hype coming into the season.

Ball only topped 100 rushing yards four times in the first eight games and majority of his numbers were put up at the end of the season. Heisman voters may want a more consistent player that's played great the entire season.

Heisman hype before the season starts also helps the candidate and Ball had none. All of the talk for Wisconsin was focused on transfer quarterback Russell Wilson.

Andrew Luck

Andrew Luck was the favorite coming into the season and is still considered the favorite by many voters. It's fair to say that without Andrew Luck, the Stanford Cardinal wouldn't be anywhere close to were they are now. 

He led them to an 11-1 record, No. 4 in the BCS Rankings and a trip to the BCS Fiesta Bowl. His numbers include 70 percent completion percentage, 3,170 passing yards and 35 touchdowns.

The fact that Andrew Luck didn't go undefeated may cost him the award. That Pac-12 schedule really wasn't that difficult and with the team he has, running the table was kind of expected.

That also brings up another issue that he really doesn't have a signature win. The game against Oregon was going to be his Heisman moment, but the Cardinal lost and he threw two interceptions.

Every Heisman winner has a Heisman moment and it appears Luck lacks his.

Trent Richardson

Trent Richardson had a fantastic season as he rushed for 1,583 yards and 20 touchdowns. He was the majority of the Crimson Tide offense as the passing game was often nonexistent. He rushed for over 100 yards in nine of the 12 games and scored at least one touchdown in every game except one.

The problem is that one game was the biggest game of the year against LSU and Richardson came up small. Sure, he had 169 total yards but he averaged less than four yards a carry and failed to get in the end zone.

I guess you could say that Richardson shares the same drawback as Andrew Luck with the fact that he really doesn't have that standout Heisman moment. Of course you have the remarkable run against Ole Miss.

But come on, it was against the Rebels.

Robert Griffin III

Robert Griffin was a life-saver for the Baylor Bears as he led them to a 9-3 record and was one of the most consistent players of the year. He completed 72 percent of his passes for 3,998 yards and 26 touchdowns.

He's also the main reason Baylor was able to beat Oklahoma for the first time in school history.

Despite all the off-the-chart numbers, Griffin did lose three games this season. You could make the argument that his defense doesn't help him at all but the voters don't want to hear excuses.

Griffin's first interception of the season did set up the Kansas State Wildcats for a game-winning field goal.

Robert Griffin may have ridiculous numbers, but the most losses of all of the finalists may be the reason he doesn't win the award.

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