Heismanpundit

It’s February, which means that the ‘unwatchable’ period of football has begun.  It starts with the NFL combine and then we get to the NFL draft–two of the most sleep-inducing events in sports–before the onslaught of (mostly meaningless) spring ball sessions arrive.  Then there’s the summer camp period and events like the Elite 11 camp, which are [...]

HP is featured in the latest Mandel Initiative, the podcast run by SI.com’s Stewart Mandel (who votes in my Heisman poll).  In it, we discuss the pending NCAA hearings regarding USC’s athletic program.
Check it out here (episode 4).

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Not every recruiting class contains a future Heisman winner.  Here are the last 10 Heisman winners and the classes that produced them:
Chris Weinke (1990*/1997)
Erich Crouch (1997)
Carson Palmer (1998)
Jason White (1999)
Matt Leinart (2001)
Reggie Bush (2003)
Troy Smith (2002)
Tim Tebow (2006)
Sam Bradford (2006)
Mark Ingram (2008)
* — [...]

I’ll have my breakdown of the top Heisman contenders from this class a little later but, in the meantime, I just want to make one point regarding recruiting rankings.
It’s in vogue to belittle recruiting rankings as worthless, since there are so many examples of non-rated or underrated players making it to the bigtime.  There are plenty [...]

…so I’ll soon have my full breakdown of the recruits who are most likely to become factors in future Heisman races.
Not many blockbusters in this class from what I can see, but lots of good players with a chance to win a Heisman if things work out right.

We check in at No. 11 in this ranking from Pediro.com.

If you want to win a Heisman Trophy, you have a distinct advantage if you go to one of these schools.  I take into account media presence, Heisman tradition, recent Heisman success and overall program mystique when putting together this ranking.   
1. USC–Three Heismans this decade and seven trophies overall, plus a glitzy program set in Tinseltown [...]

Running backs took the first two spots in Heisman balloting for the first time since 1994, when Rashaan Salaam and Ki-Jana Carter went 1-2.

I don’t usually watch or pay much attention to the NFL, but I’ve been watching these playoffs and I think we might be in for quite an exciting Super Bowl. 
While the Jets aren’t exactly a dynamic offensive team, they’ve been a great story with their defense and running game, as well as a rookie coach and [...]

It was an ignominious start to the Lane Kiffin Era at USC as assistant coach Ed Orgeron is already embroiled in a recruiting controversey. 
For the record, I don’t think the Orgeron affair amounts to much of anything and it appears no NCAA rules were broken.  But this isn’t exactly the smoothest way to get going on the PR side of things, [...]