Something about seeing Barry Sanders’ Heisman Trophy on display in Oklahoma State’s Hall of Athletics late Saturday night inspired me to do this, even if it is a tad premature. That said, the Heisman is on Jayhawk football fans’ minds right now with the season sophomore ‘funslinger’ Todd Reesing has had.So allow me for a second here to pretend that I wear a suit to work and have a job where I make important decisions.My job, in this instance, is being one of the guys who gets to pick who comes to New York City on Dec. 8 for the trophy presentation. Of course, the 924 voters around the nation have the ultimate say in who gets the plane tickets, but this is fantasy world. First, I bestowed this power upon two co-workers – Journal-World KU football beat writer [Ryan Wood][1] and J-W sports editor [Tom Keegan][2]. Then, I gave the opportunity to one of The Greene Room’s most loyal readers, an anonymous soul who goes by the handle Teapot9.**Here were their lists at the moment…****Wood** **_Invites go to_**: Dennis Dixon, Darren McFadden, Tim Tebow, Pat White, Chase Daniel or Todd Reesing (whoever wins Nov. 24)**Keegan** **_Invites go to_**: Todd Reesing, Sam Bradford, Dennis Dixon, Patrick White, Darren McFadden**Teapot9** **_Invites go to_**: Tim Tebow, Dennis Dixon, Pat White (whose name on his ballot was preceded with an ‘ughhhh’), Todd Reesing, Darren McFaddenNow I’m going to take a turn, and it’s time to draft some invitations. Here we go… (and remember, these are as of today, Nov. 12, 2007. Who knows what could change over the course of two weeks…but seeing the trophy in person makes you want to do stuff like this)**Invitation No. 1** Dear Mr. [Pat White][3],Congratulations on being selected to attend the Heisman Trophy presentation on Dec. 8 in New York City.You are in my eyes the most established and lethal dual-threat quarterback college ball has to offer. Aside from having rushed for 803 yards and 10 touchdowns this season, your passing numbers are what have caught my attention. In your third year as a starter, you’ve bumped your passer rating gradually from your freshman season, jump-starting that number to 111.5 this season from 85.0 in 2005. Instead of being looked upon now as a run-first, pass-sixth offensive weapon, you can keep a defense on its toes better than anyone in the country.Aside from your team still being in the BCS hunt with an 8-1 record, you earned plenty of moxie points last Thursday after taking a vicious hit to the head in a 38-31 win over Louisville. After proving you were OK with a couple of somersaults in front of the training staff, you returned to the game, ultimately pulling it out with a [late 50-yard touchdown run][4]. You’re a warrior who has carried his team by rushing for nearly as many yards (803) as your preseason Heisman hopeful teammate Steve Slaton (885). See you in NYC, sir.**Invitation No. 2**Dear Mr. [Darren McFadden][5],Congratulations on being selected to attend the Heisman Trophy presentation on Dec. 8 in New York City.When looking at the so-called best players in all of college football, if I were starting a program from scratch and could use any one player to build it around, you’d take the cake.While you’re on pace to best your sophomore year rushing total of 1,647 yards (1,431 right now with more than likely three games left to play), you are by far the most dangerous weapon in the nation in terms of skill players. You had the hype coming into this season as the frontrunner in the broad pool of Heisman candidates to watch, and despite your team’s struggles in a 6-4 campaign to date, you’ve kept them in a position to win just about every weekend (this weekend’s 34-13 loss at Tennessee was the only blowout defeat). Aside from that, you play in the SEC, which means no one can question your strength of schedule. If they do, just flash the 321 yards against South Carolina, 195 on Alabama and 173 against Kentucky in front of their eyes.See you in NYC (and you can start scouting potential celebration spots in Manhattan for NFL Draft weekend, while you’re at it).**Invitation No. 3**Dear Mr. [Dennis Dixon][6],Congratulations on being selected to attend the Heisman Trophy presentation on Dec. 8 in New York City.You’re considered right now to be the guy everyone else is chasing on the way to the Big Apple, and rightfully so.The 20 touchdowns against only three interceptions are impressive, alongside the 115.8 passer rating and eight touchdowns created with your feet. It’s a whirlwind difference from the 12 TDs to 14 INTs ratio you boasted in 2006 in your first year as a starter.We’ll dismiss the [brutal array of uniforms][7] your school subjects you to sporting on a weekly basis. While the attire may make some change the channel, I’ve stayed tuned. You’ve consistently performed well against the best competition. To run off a few, you threw 3 TDs and no picks and ran for another score in a 39-7 drilling on the road against Michigan. You ran a tight ship in directing the offense to a 24-17 win at home over USC. Then, you threw four touchdowns and no interceptions a week later while ruining Arizona State’s undefeated campaign, 35-23.Since your team’s first and only loss of the season – to Cal – you’ve posted an average quarterback rating of 107.7 over the past four games. And while the Heisman isn’t supposed to be a hinge on the past, that’ll hold true here. Your career numbers aren’t eye-popping, but considering how far you’ve come since splitting time with Kellen Clemens in 2005, here’s your recognition, as barring slip-ups against Arizona, UCLA or Oregon State, you could very well be playing for a National Championship in January.Best of luck the rest of the way, see you in NYC. Tread the waters carefully.**Invitation No. 4**Dear Mr. [Colt Brennan][8]Congratulations on being selected to attend the Heisman Trophy presentation on Dec. 8 in New York City.As I wrote in a letter Dennis Dixon, the Heisman Trophy is not supposed to be a lifetime achievement award, but lets face it – it sometimes just is.That’s not the only reason you’re receiving this, though. You’ve had a scintillating year in steering one of the nation’s highest-powered offenses. In eight games played, your 3,216 yards through the air and 28 touchdowns are hard to argue with (even though they’re well behind the pace you set a year ago, going for 5,549 and 58 in a 14-game season). I’m willing to throw out your 12 interceptions as counting against you, since you’re almost forced to throw more than most (Hawaii’s pass offense is ranked second in the nation, while the run offense ranks 113th).A lot of how you fare in the final voting will depend on how you bounce back from last Saturday’s [][9]. Your upcoming Nov. 24 home game against Boise State, which will decide ultimately who wins the WAC, also is going to be big. Safe to say, you’re the biggest wild card of my five invitees. But either way, you’re in. Congrats.See you in NYC (and I suggest extra strength Excedrin).**Invitation No. 5**Dear Mr. [Chase Daniel][10],Congratulations on being selected to attend the Heisman Trophy presentation on Dec. 8 in New York City.I’ll be completely up front with you. Of the five invites I was able to send out for this event, you were the toughest to decide upon. But so far in your collegiate career, you’ve played the underdog role as well as anyone could.Lightly recruited out of one of the nation’s top high school programs in Texas because of your height, you’ve parlayed a scholarship at Missouri with early playing time into stardom as the centerpiece of one of the midwest’s most entertaining offenses.I’ll continue to be candid with you. This decision was a choice between you and another Texas gunslinger, Todd Reesing of Kansas. You guys have pretty similar numbers, though your 3,306 passing yards have him beat. You simply had a tougher non-con schedule, throwing for 359 yards and 3 TDs against Illinois, which now looks much better with the Illini having just three losses and an upset over then-No. 1 Ohio State under their belts. You threw for five touchdowns on the road against an SEC foe in week two against Mississippi and then topped a tough MAC foe in Western Michigan.In Big 12 play, you lost to Oklahoma, yet led an offense that outplayed the Sooners for the most part, with a couple of bounces in OU’s favor ultimately helping give them a 10-point win. You threw two picks, but still racked up 361 yards. Also, you had a bit of build-up coming into this season, coming off of a 3,527-yard, 28-touchdown season. Todd Reesing didn’t have that advantage.Before I bid farewell until December, be warned: Lose to Kansas in Arrowhead on Nov. 24, and the invite could easily be doctored with some white-out (Hey, like I said up above, my rules).See you in NYC…maybe.**Snap back to reality…**: I’d say [Todd Reesing][11] has a decent chance to get to NYC, should he and the Jayhawks continue to take care of business. He had to have made a positive impression on the voters on national television Saturday night while Dennis Dixon and Oregon were idle in this what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world. If he bests Chase Daniel in Kansas City, the voters around the nation will _definitely_ take notice, especially with that game more than likely to be seen by the majority of the nation, so don’t burn on me just yet for taking Daniel at the moment……as for not taking [Tim Tebow][12], the reasons are two-fold. Florida has been pretty disappointing, having lost three games in SEC play. On top of that, the Gators padded their record with a weaker-than-needed non-conference slate, which included Western Kentucky and Troy already, plus Florida Atlantic coming up this week. His numbers are awesome, having thrown 23 touchdown passes to just five interceptions. He’s the nation’s second-highest rated passer, with a mark of 121.9 in 10 games. He’s run for 19 more scores, piling up 718 yards on 170 carries. Plus, lets face it – He’s just a sophomore, and he’ll be next year’s Darren McFadden in the sense that he’s going to be the odds-on favorite to win it before the season starts. The only reason Reesing would get mention as a sophomore is because he’s still in the title hunt……[Sam Bradford][13] is the nation’s highest-rated quarterback, but that loss to Colorado was pretty brutal, given what the Buffs have done in recent weeks. On top of that, his numbers were terrible in that game. He was 8-of-19 for 112 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. None of the other candidates have had a game that was _that_ bad. Plus he’s a freshman. I just don’t see it happening. His numbers are nice, though, and like Tebow he’ll have ample opportunity to take the bronze statue in the future. [1]: http://www2.kusports.com/staff/ryan_wood/ [2]: http://www2.kusports.com/staff/tom_keegan/ [3]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/115414 [4]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH5JsHa5Ypo [5]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/126484 [6]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/100728 [7]: http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=299694 [8]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/100976 [9]: annihilation at the hands of Fresno State’s Marcus Riley [10]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/131824 [11]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/137028 [12]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/136113 [13]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/142221
