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Ezekiel Elliott vs Derek Henry

Derrick Henry is the presumptive Heisman Trophy winner for 2015. Henry leads FBS in rushing yards (1,986) and rushing touchdowns (23) despite having a rather pedestrian 5.86 yards per carry average (34th in FBS). Henry's numbers certainly put him in the discussion for the 2015 Heisman, but how do his numbers compare with Ezekiel Elliott's over the past calendar year?

The 2014 Heisman voting closed on December 8, 2014, the day after the CFB Playoff teams were announced. Here's what Ezekiel Elliott and Derek Henry have accomplished since the close of last year's Heisman voting:


Heisman CandidateGamesTotal RushesRush YardsYds/CarryYds/GameTouchdowns100-yard+200-yard+
Ezekiel Elliott143182,1486.75153.425134
Derrick Henry143522,0815.91148.62494
As you can see, Zeke beats Henry in every category except 200-yard+ games, in which each player has four. And Zeke beat Henry in their only head-to-head matchup in last year's Sugar Bowl, as Zeke had 20 carries for 230 yards (11.5 ypc) and 2 TDs, while Henry had 13 carries for 95 yards (7.3 ypc) and 1 TD. Zeke followed up his Sugar Bowl performance with 36 carries for 246 yards (6.8 ypc) and 4 TDs in the 2014 National Championship Game.

However in this year's Heisman voting, Zeke will get no credit for his performances in last year's Sugar Bowl or National Championship Game, which came after the 2014 Heisman vote but were not part of the 2015 season. In reality, he probably got little credit last year for his 20 carry, 220 yard, 2 TD performance in the 2014 Big Ten Title Game. Although that game took place on December 6th, and thus before the nominal close of the 2014 Heisman balloting, the voting had been open since November 24th and many voters had probably submitted their 2014 ballots before Zeke's record-setting performance. So Zeke's epic achievements during the Buckeyes' three-game national title run - 76 carries, 696 yards, 9.2 ypc, 232 ypg, 8 TD - were almost completely ignored by the Heisman voters due to a flaw in the voting procedure. As things turned out, Zeke was the best player on the best team in 2014, but he was never recognized as such.

As far as Heisman voters are concerned, games that occur after the vote simply don't exist - they aren't eligible for the current year and they can't be considered for the following year. In other words, what you accomplish against your best competition in your most important games of the season - CCGs, bowls, and playoffs - doesn't matter to Heisman voters, but what you do against the cupcakes on your schedule matters a whole lot.

Back in the early days, the final national championship polls were taken before the bowl games, the bowls being considered mere exhibitions that had no bearing on the actual college football season. Since 1973, both major polls (AP and coaches) have recognized the importance of bowl games, and their pollsters have submitted their final ballots after the bowl games. Since 1998, postseason games have been used to determine the college football national champion (BCS until 2013 and now the playoff). A team's ultimate success is determined by what it does during the postseason.

Maybe the Downtown Athletic Club should get with the times and push the Heisman voting back until after the completion of the entire college football season, and consider what each candidate does in the games that matter the most. If they had done so last year, then maybe Ezekiel Elliott would have become Ohio State's eighth Heisman Trophy winner in 2014.
 
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In a way, I feel sorry for Henry because Saban ran him so much that his knees will probably be gone by the age of 40 and his NFL career, if there is one, will be extremely short..

I always thought that Zeke was the best all-around RB in the country..
 
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Can't count what both Zeke and Henry did in last year's post season when voting for this year's Heisman...
Maybe you missed it, but that was my point - those games didn't count last year or this year. They should count in one season or the other, probably in 2014. There is a flaw in the Heisman voting that should be (and can easily) be fixed.
 
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Maybe you missed it, but that was my point - those games didn't count last year or this year. They should count in one season or the other, probably in 2014. There is a flaw in the Heisman voting that should be (and can easily) be fixed.
It may have helped Zeke to win it last year if the Heisman voting came after all the post-season games are done, but we don't know how it would help him this year since he'll only get to play in one more game and Henry may get two more games.
 
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I suppose that the current theory is that it's unfair to great players on so-so teams that don't get to participate in conference championship, playoff, or maybe even bowl games: But as much as being on a really good team is necessary anyway, that shouldn't matter. I agree that the Heisman should be awarded after all games are played, but I doubt it will ever happen because people have moved on from CF at that point and the Heisman is, after all, the hypesman. Of course, the current format has tended to benefit the Buckeyes since I doubt that either Troy or Eddie have Heismans if they were awarded post their bowl games (Troy because of the disaster and Eddie because of Tommie Frazier's plungering of the Gators). Of course, Zeke might have gotten it last year if it was awarded at the end. Maybe they should award it at the end of September so that a UM player can win it every year.
 
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"Maybe the Downtown Athletic Club should get with the times and push the Heisman voting back until after the completion of the entire college football season"

They could also not award it to professional athletes accepting money from agents, drug addicts, or athletes getting preferential treatment from their local PD.
 
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I take Zeke all day over Henry. I think Henry is a good running back and he's a load when he gets going. I even think if they'd have stuck with running him more in the game last year, we'd have been playing to the final gun to try and win. I had no doubts that we won that game last year even though Powell picked one off in the endzone at the end.

Zeke is the most complete back to come out of college in a while and he'll more than likely start immediately when he gets drafted.
 
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Update: Ezekiel Elliott vs. Derrick Henry from 01/01/2015 to 01/11/2016

Running BackGamesTotal RushesRush YardsYds/CarryYds/GameTouchdowns100-yard+200-yard+
Ezekiel Elliott153452,2976.66153.129144
Derrick Henry164082,3145.67144.629104
The stats are similar, except that Henry played one more game and had 63 more carries. The most notable stat: Zeke averaged one more yard per carry than Henry.

Elliott was clearly the better back over the past year, but SEC hype got Henry the Heisman.
 
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