Sunday, December 10, 2006

Sunday 12/10 A.M. Quickie:
McFadden for Heisman? Yes...in 2007!

Unsurprisingly, Ohio State QB Troy Smith won the Heisman by an overwhelming margin. In a bit of a surprise, Arkansas RB Darren McFadden beat out Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn for second place. Given the certainty of the Smith outcome, it actually reaffirms my faith in the otherwise sketchy batch of 1,000 Heisman voters. (See my own Heisman vote – with McFadden as my ultimate pick – from Thursday.)

Looking ahead to 2007, McFadden -- just a sophomore this season -- becomes the overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman. (Others on the early-early radar: West Virginia RB Steve Slaton and Rutgers RB Ray Rice. Should be a great year for running backs.)

College Hoops: In a battle of two of the Top 3 teams on the West Coast, Gonzaga waxed Washington by 20 in Spokane. The third Top 3 team – top-ranked UCLA – got away with a 3-point win over trendy Texas A&M. UCLA is legit.

CFB Coaching Carousel: Dennis Erickson is back in the Pac-10, bolting from Idaho to Arizona State. So much for the hot rumor that AZ State was going to hire Norm Chow.

NBA: Iverson Rumors Overwhelm T'wolves. And, yet, Minnesota was motivated enough to beat the Bulls, snapping Chicago's 7-game W streak. KG reaffirmed his interest in getting AI, but T'wolves owner Glen Taylor insists that the financials wouldn't work out. Cripes: With KG and AI, couldn't they simply sign three guys from the local General Mills IM league and be competitive?

NFL Live-Comment Tailgate: Settling in for a day of NFL games? Use the Comments section below to weigh in on the developments of the day.

-- D.S.

13 comments:

chipp said...

I still don't understand McFadden over I. Johnson. Would someone please provide a compelling argument FOR McFadden?

Jen said...

andy (and Dan as well)~ Please. It was the Penn State game that had the "highlight play" of Smith scrambling away from defenders and throwing the perfect rocket to Robiskie. He does what he has to on the field to get the game won. Just because he didn't have 300+ passing yards in every game doesn't mean he didn't have what it takes to win the Heisman. Even with his few mediocre games, he still had 30 TDs and 2500+ passing yards this year.

Anonymous said...

You should also include on your early Hesiman list for next year, QB for the #1 team in the country.

That person has been at least invited the past 5 or 6 years (too lazy to look it up)

mrmom61 said...

The Colts defense sucks hard.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

SERIOUSLY PEOPLE

Colt Brennan also has a Senior year left in him. The Potential for record breaking is crazy. The lack of other QBs is also to his advantage.

What if the running backs (Slaton, Rice, McFadden) knock eachother off in the conversation for who is the best running back but Colt is seen as by far the best QB? That wouldn't win him the Heisman?

BTW... Colt was great his Sophmore year and incredible his Junior year. Compensating for him playing a bowl game this year and the average upgrade between his seasons, these would be his stats for next year:

462/602 passing, 76.7% CMP, 6715 YRDS, 11.15 YPA, 93 TD, 11 INT, 217.77 QB RAT, 72 rushes, 871 YRDS, 12.1 YPC, 14 Rush TD

I'm not saying that will happen (esspecially that 93 TDs and 218 QB rating) but the question is...

What does the guy have to do?
Is there a rule that says no Heisman's from the WAC?

Jon said...

Washington isn't really a top 3 West Coast team. Don't be fooled by the rankings. UCLA, Gonzaga, and Arizona are the best out West.

Glen Taylor is probably right. KG and AI's contracts are huge and with the cap it is tough to make a deal work. If I watched the NBA I guess that would be a nice duo to watch.

Looks like Matsuzaka deal isn't working out too well for the Sox. I don't get why they don't just throw down the additional 4 million a year to sign this guy....unless their bid was just a bid to keep him in Japan for another year and away from the Yankees.

Steve said...

regarding the no WAC rule for Heismans...

There certainly should be a rule like that. 2 words: Ty Detmer.

Jon said...

Eagles are looking pretty decent without McNabb. Their run D is still pretty pathetic though.

Christopher G said...

Not so sure about the KG/AI combo. The Target Center would definitely fill some more seats, but the excitement will die down quickly if they don't win.

I seem to remember the Chris Webber didn't mesh to well with AI. Then again, CW is a shell of his former self and not at the same level of KG anymore.

Josh said...

No way the Colts win the Super Bowl with a run defense like this.

Anonymous said...

The heisman's a crock, you all know that right?

A bunch of voters who never see the guys play voting for the school that has the best publicity machine.

On the other hand, maybe you think the NFL drug policy is effective too.

Kurt said...

Dan, your predictions are looking pretty good so far...

Dan picks Colts, Jags blow them out.
Dan picks Pats, Dolphins blow them out.
Dan picks Chiefs, Ravens win.
Dan picks Panthers, Giants win.