Kenjon Barner —– Oregon

I would say look at the stats and watch the highlights of the players. Also, look at what they mean to their programs. Would K-State be as good without Kline? Probably not, but still pretty decent. Would Notre dame be as good without Te’O? Most likely, but maybe not undefeated. Would A&M be a 10 win team or would they have gone into Bama country and come close to winning without Johnny? Heck no! I would say Kline is a good vote, but I feel Manziel has done more to put a program back on the map than any other player this year. Playing a top 10 team in his first NCAA start without having his offensive package fully installed and doing what he did was amazing. If the kicker was a little more accurate in the two games the Aggies lost, we would be looking at a A&M ND national championship game and nobody would have any doubt that Manziel was the only choice.

Check out this link. It is Manziel’s top 12 plays of 2012: http://v4.texags.com/Stories/7107

It depends on how you feel the award should be handed out. Traditionally it goes to the best QB or RB for a undefeated team or a team that is a title contender.

Klein helped to lead KSU for a good portion of the season into title contention until their untimely loss to Baylor. He is/was a solid choice for the honor and he’s meant a lot to Bill Snyder’s team the past two seasons.

Mr. Football, has had a very productive year and was very close to breaking some big records in the SEC as a redshirt freshman. He had a Heisman “moment” in helping to defeat top ranked Alabama in a trap game after Bama scraped by LSU at Death Valley in the waning seconds the week before. Manziel has also looked pretty average in losses to LSU and Florida. He’s benefited from having a very good offensive line and playmakers at the skill positions on offense, unlike Colin Klein.

Te’o is a 1st All-American linebacker for the #1 ranked team in the nation, Notre Dame. Obviously the Heisman has gone to an offensive player every year since its inception. The one “exception” was Charles Woodson, but he played both ways as well as being a special teams performer. Te’o is the heart and soul of the nation’s top defense, a defense that has shut down powerful offenses like Michigan, Oklahoma, Stanford, and USC this season. Each of those teams were held to season lows in point totals and offensive production. They say that defense wins championships, just ask the SEC, and here you have the best player, on the best defense, with the #1 ranked and undefeated Irish.

So conventional wisdom says that the Heisman will go to an offensive player, who’s not a freshman, and will usually be on a team competing for the BCS title. All three have their arguments both pro and con, and their are others who would like to stake a claim like Lee from USC, McCarron from Bama, Barner at Oregon, etc etc.

Personally I’d vote Te’o.

Additionally for Manziel, Texas A&M has played pretty weak competition in a number of games this season including two FCS division foes, a WAC school, and a C-USA team.

Hands down, Manti T’eo. One element that is sometimes missing from the Heisman voting is “character.” Not to say the others mentioned are not good people, but Manti is classy and respectful, as well as respected. His stats are not AS flashy, but that’s because he is a linebacker. Another Heisman tangible to consider is the value to his team. Obviously Notre Dame is undefeated and likely playing for a Championship. I can say from being in South Bend at practices, Manti is a leader, and the Irish defense would not be what it is without him.

Think about it like this:

Johnny Manziel broke Archie Manning’s single game yards record twice this season. That’s a record that has stood since 1969, like there haven’t been great QB’s in the SEC since then playing against weak competition? Johnny broke the SEC single season record in two less games than Cam Newton while sitting out in 9 quarters in those 12 games, and I’m giving you two quarters where Johnny only played one play. He put up 450 yards passing and 100 rushing in a game, that’s an FBS first. He put up 300 passing and 150 rushing, that’s an FBS first, and he’s the first FBS player to have three 300/100 games in a CAREER and he did it in 9 games. Plus, he’s incredibly fun to watch, you can’t watch him without saying “Wow” at least one time. If the vote is going to go to the most outstanding player, it clearly has to be Johnny Manziel. LSU game: 2 of the 3 INT’s were the fault of the receiver, not Johnny, go back and watch those games. He still put up over 300 yards of offense, which was more than any TEAM had put up against LSU up to that point. Against UF: That was his first game and they probably had 30% of the offense put into the system, and Johnny still had his team within 3 points to win the game. A&M lost to LSU by 5, and their kicker left 7 points on the field. They didn’t lose either of those games BECAUSE of Johnny. Johnny, as a freshman would, improved as the season went on. He went from “pretty dang good” against UF, to AWESOME against Alabama. It’s also impossible to compare him to Manti Te’o because if Te’o has a bad game it doesn’t show up, that’s why he doesn’t have the stats. ND fans are pushing intangibles because Manti is middle of the road in terms of performance on the field. However, if Johnny throws an INT you’re going to know about it. Johnny has so many records, has so many FBS firsts ever, and led a team that was picked to go 6-6 by ESPN to a 10-2 record. They would not be 10-2 without Johnny Manziel, I guarantee that.

Mike- your Heisman vote should go to Chuck Long.

First and fore most thank you for this opportunity to help you. Everyone is reading into Manziel’s stats. Lets not let those stats hide the fact that on the two biggest stages he played this year he choked in the second halves. He threw 3 second half picks versus LSU. And he threw 29 of 56 passes for 276 yards. Against Flordia he did not record a single throwing touchdown. So for two complete games he did throw a single touchdown and threw three picks. Sounds like a Heisman? No. Every other game he exploded but to win the Heisman you must show up when the game is on the line. And twice he failed to. And the argument that he is a freshman and he had to get used to the game. That’s fine but this is for the most prestigious award in college football. This is the best of the best and that argument does not excuse his poor performances. Manti Teo is the heart and sole of the Notre Dame team. Without him there is no way you can say that they would be undefeated. You just can’t do it. Manti also has the statistics. 103 tackles, 7 interceptions, and 5.5 tackles for loss. He has 6 games with over 10 tackles. And 3 of those games were against #10 ranked Michigan St, #18 ranked Stanford, and #8 ranked Oklahoma. And with two interceptions vs #18 ranked Michigan. ND won that game 13-6. 1 interception on ND’s side of the fifty versus BYU. They won that game 17-14. And lastly the most important interception versus OU. With 4:28 left in the game, ND winning 20-13, and OU driving, Te’o dives for an interception to seal the win for ND. Without those interceptions, who knows if ND would be in the championship game. That’s called clutch. Notre Dame has the best Defense in the country. They held Stephan Taylor to 102 yards with 28 carries and no TDs. Le’Veon Bell was held to just 77 yards and no TDs. These two are both in the top 15 in rushing He held the whole OU team to 15 yards rushing. The Notre Dame defense has allowed no more than 17 points in regulation. Notre Dame’s offense was shaky and inconsistent with multiple quarterbacks playing the second half of multiple games. Te’o did not let that effect his defense. The Notre Dame defense has allowed no more than 17 points in regulation. And 2 huge goal line stats. He even has multiple Heisman moments.(OU int or 3rd and goal vs Stanford.) Te’o has the statistics and the mental part of the game. Leadership, consistency, clutch, and big time plays is the definition of Te’o. Notre Dame going undefeated is due to Te’o. He should win the Heisman.

Don’t listen to me. Listen to LSU’s Sam Montgomery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWuUHqSLs30

Manziel. He beat Alabama and Alabama is and is going to be National Champs

A&M still played two FCS schools, SMU, and Louisiana Tech(barely winning this one). Within the SEC they played terrible teams including hapless Auburn, Arkansas, Missouri, and Ole Miss. Mississippi State was ranked highly at one point, prior to playing Bama, but was given that grade for playing 3 Sun Belt schools, an FCS, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Auburn. Prior to playing LSU, Bama’s toughest game was against Michigan in the opener, then A&M picked them off in a trap game after LSU. Its no wonder your comparing ND’s defense to the SEC dominant defenses, because apparently none of them play any offenses worth a darn. At least ND can say they’ve played an entire season of FBS schools and offenses, most all of them from BCS qualifier conferences except Navy and BYU.

My vote would go to Te’O. Not only a leader and awesome linebacker. But with his personal tragedies and still have the great year with the old Hawkeye Bobby Diaco as defensice coordinator for them.

Johnny Football the next 4 years

I agree with Marc — Jordan Lynch. Thanks for asking for input, Mike. Fun!