Justin Blackmon for Heisman?
Less than two months ago, I stood talking to Justin Blackmon after an Oklahoma State football practice about how this Cowboy offense didn’t have a superstar receiver.
Now, I have the sophomore wideout on my Heisman Trophy ballot.
What Blackmon has done this season has been as amazing as it has been unexpected. Heck, even if we’d have all known that he was going to be the star receiver in this new-fangled offense, we’d still be impressed by the numbers, by the impact.
Blackmon leads the nation in receiving yards with 955 and in touchdown catches with 12.
If not for Hawaii, he’d be the leader in both categories by a mile. But Hawaii’s Greg Salas is on his heels in the receiving yards category with 910 while Hawaii’s Kealoha Pilares has only one less touchdown catch. Besides Blackmon and Salas, no other receiver in the country has even 800 yards receiving. And besides Blackmon and Pilares, no other receiver has touchdown catches in the double digits.
That Blackmon is so far out in front of everyone else in the country in both categories is a big-time statement.
And hey, it doesn’t hurt either that every time he steps on the field he seems to one-up himself. A couple weeks ago, he had a career-high 13 catches and a career-high 190 yards at Louisiana-Lafayette. But just when you thought he couldn’t do anything more jaw-dropping, he went to Texas Tech last week and bested his career-high in yards with 207.
Who knows what he’ll do Saturday vs. Nebraska?
Truth is, what he does then could really catapult him into the Heisman conversation.
This week, I was the only voter in the HeismanPundit.com straw poll to have Blackmon on my ballot. He was third behind Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore and Auburn quarterback Cam Newton.
My ballot has changed nearly every week this season, so who knows what players I’ll have on it next week or even at the end of the season when it really matters. But right now, I felt like Blackmon deserved a spot. He’s been not only outstanding but also extremely important to the Cowboys’ 6-0 start.
Coaches comparing him to Michael Crabtree doesn’t hurt either.
Just two months ago, we had no idea if Blackmon would be the Cowboys’ go-to receiver, much less a Heisman Trophy dark horse.
Guess I was talking to the superstar receiver that day after practice in August, huh?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Blackman has all of the tools to be where he is now,sure did not hurt that this new TT style offense was installed this season either.Now teams will have to bracket him to slow him down and when you do that opens up run game w Hunter,off line the key to this week’s game w Nebraska.