Heisman Futures – Don’t Sleep on Rodgers and Royster

BetOnline Sportsbook Odds

Top Contenders To Win 2009 Heisman Trophy

Tim Tebow +200

Sam Bradford +250

Colt McCoy +275

Terelle Pryor +800

Jahvid Best +1000

Evan Royster +1200

Jevan Snead +1500

Jonathan Dwyer +1500

Todd Reesing +2000

Darryl Clark +2000

C.J. Spiller +2000

Kendall Hunter +2000

JACQUIZZ RODGERS +3000

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Jacquizz Rodgers has always been ticketed for greatness it seems. His high school career produced the phenomenal total of 8246 rushing yards and 135 touchdowns, and it was understandable that a lot of colleges were after him. He wound up at Oregon State, which is where older brother James had already been on scholarship. It took a few games for Jacquizz to make his presence known in Corvallis, but when he did, it was big.

He had his first 100-yard performance against Hawaii in the season’s fourth game, and in the next contest he rambled for 186 yards and two touchdowns in the upset of USC. There were five more games over 100 yards for Rodgers the rest of the season, and could have been more if not for an injury. His bummed shoulder kept him out of the regular season finale against Oregon and the subsequent bowl game, and caused him to lose the Pac-10 rushing title to Cal’s Jahvid Best. Despite that, he was able to win the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, becoming the first freshman ever to win that award. He also won third-team All-America honors from the Associated Press and was the Sporting News national freshman of the year.

Generally when a sophomore gets consideration and support for the Heisman, it is by virtue of what he is accomplishing during the season. In Rodgers’ case, however, he is considered a contender for the award on the strength of just one college season.

Evan Royster, a native of Fairfax, Virginia, was highly recruited out of high school but did not come in with a bang. Rather, he was redshirted as a freshman, and was a second-string running back in his first year with the varsity, gaining 513 yards for Joe Paterno and Penn State. He did come on strong as a redshirt sophomore. Royster scored three touchdowns in each of the first two games, ran up 139 yards against Illinois and 141 against Purdue, added 174 against Michigan, and finished the season with 1236 yards and twelve touchdowns.

There is a case to be made both for and against each of these guys. As far as the head-to-head is concerned, we’re wondering whether voters would remember that these running backs faced off against each in the second game of last season, a 45-14 Penn State romp. In that one, Royster ran for 141 yards and three TD’s, while Rodgers was held to 99 yards but did score twice.

Royster’s candidacy, to be perfectly honest, doesn’t really grab us that hard. He did not finish the season with a flourish, failing to reach the 100-yard mark in any of his last five games, including a Rose Bowl where he gained just 34 yards against USC, the same team Rodgers had shredded earlier in the season. Royster will not have to face an especially tough schedule, as Joe Paterno has padded the slate with easy non-conference games against Akron, Temple, Syracuse and Eastern Illinois. He could roll up some numbers in those games, but will voters be impressed? Also, does it hurt him that if Penn State can go unbeaten or close to it, which would be possible with this soft schedule, he may have to split Heisman attention with quarterback Darryl Clark (who is +2000 to win the Heisman at BetOnline)? Maybe not, since there is no way Clark is going to leapfrog the Tebow-Bradford-McCoy trio.

I see Rodgers as a guy with more upside. His numbers would have been bigger if he hadn’t missed a couple of games. He is also the focal point of his team’s attack, which could be a double-edged sword as he’ll draw all the attention of opposing defensive coordinators. Another double-edged sword involves his being positioned alongside Jahvid Best of California (+1000 to win the Heisman at BetOnline), because if he beats out Best and wins the conference rushing title, that’s going to strengthen his case, but if he doesn’t, he may get shut out entirely. An interesting game for these purposes will take place between Cal and OSU on November 7 at Berkeley.

Royster’s team may get farther, but he will have to improve his numbers and overwhelm voters, in my opinion. I would say that Rodgers gets my edge, and should carry shorter odds than the +3000 he is sporting at BetOnline, but to be perfectly honest, the field may be too crowded to have room for either of these guys.