NEW YORK — Alabama running back Derrick Henry, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey are the finalists for the Heisman Trophy.
Henry and McCaffrey will be trying to break a streak of five consecutive quarterbacks winning college football’s top honor when the trophy is presented Saturday night in New York.
Alabama’s Mark Ingram was the last running back — and only Crimson Tide player — to win the Heisman Trophy when he did so in 2009. Since 2000, 13 of the 15 winners have been quarterbacks.
Among those missing out on a trip to New York City are Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, LSU running back Leonard Fournette, who was the early season favorite, and Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds.
Henry seems to be the front-runner in a race that tightened over championship weekend. He ran for 189 yards and a touchdown on 44 carries in Alabama’s SEC championship game victory over Florida on Saturday.
Later that night, McCaffrey ran for a touchdown, threw a touchdown pass and had a touchdown reception, finishing Stanford’s victory over USC in the Pac-12 title game with 461 all-purpose yards. Watson had 420 total yards and accounted for five touchdowns in Clemson’s ACC championship game win over North Carolina.
Close Heisman voting has been uncommon in recent years. The last three winners — Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston and Johnny Manziel — all won by comfortable margins.
The last time there was real suspense at the Heisman presentation was 2009, when Ingram received only one percent more of the vote than Stanford’s Toby Gerhart. By percentage, that ranks as the closest Heisman vote in history.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.