who was the last heisman winner to work out in the NFL

[trapezeus]

Watching the game, i was unimpressed with Newton. it got me thinking, "when is the last time a heisman winner went on to do well in the NFL?"

also, why is the heisman still considered some future predictor of NFL talent. all these reporters are just self congratulatory, but the heisman tends to just show who is good at the moment and not necessarily who is a good player. Would you agree with this?

[Mr. Miyagi]

OJ

[Mr. Miyagi]

Barry Sanders was ok too.

[T-Long]

Off the top of my head, I can give you some names:

Marcus Allen
OJ Simpson
Archie Griffin
Tony Dorsett
Herschel Walker
Bo Jackson
Barry Sanders
Vinny Testaverde
Charles Woodson
Ricky Williams

I'm sure there are more...

[psubills62]

The Heisman has turned into a QB/RB award, not even close to the "best player in college football." Suh losing last year cemented that notion.

I think Bradford will have a really good career, but that's very unproven.

The list of Heisman winners who went on to have bad or mediocre NFL careers just shows the difference between college and the NFL. College football can be dominated by athleticism. The NFL cannot. This is why the NFL is right to make kids wait until they're 3 years out of school to be draft-eligible.

[Pinkerton Security]

I mean none recently have been studs (Bradford is close though, IMO, but too early to tell obviously)...Eddie George was a star, Reggie Bush is dynamic but just isnt a true RB, Palmer was very good before his fateful injury...but yeah its surprisingly rare that players even become solid starters after winning the Heisman.

[STRONG_BAD]

Watching the game, i was unimpressed with Newton. it got me thinking, "when is the last time a heisman winner went on to do well in the NFL?"

also, why is the heisman still considered some future predictor of NFL talent. all these reporters are just self congratulatory, but the heisman tends to just show who is good at the moment and not necessarily who is a good player. Would you agree with this?

I agree that it's odd more don't work out..but here is a list of well-doers

2008 - Sam Bradford
2002 - Carson Palmer
1988 - Ricky Williams
1997 - Charles Woodson
1995 - Eddie George

[Forward_Lateral]

Charles Woodson, 1997
Ricky Williams, 1998
Reggie Bush, 2005
Sam Bradford, 2008

[Forward_Lateral]

I forgot Carson Palmer.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

*Cameron Newton
*Mark Ingram, Jr.
*Sam Bradford - Having a very good career so far
*Tim Tebow - Still too early
*Troy Smith - Nothing so far
*Reggie Bush - OK, but nowhere near as good as advertised
*Matt Leinart - bust
*Jason White - blacklisted from the league
*Carson Palmer - has had an OK career, especially in the pit that is Cincinnati
*Eric Crouch - career minor leaguer
*Chris Weinke - too old to make much of a difference by the time he made it to the NFL
*Ron Dayne - he and Tiki had some success in New York
*Ricky Williams - we all know his story.
*Charles Woodson
*Danny Wuerffel - bust
*Eddie George

That's the list from the past 16 years or so. From that list... it's been pretty much a crap shoot. You have the Carson Palmers and the Eddie Georges who have good careers... but for every one of those you get an Eric Crouch or a Matt Leinart who doesn't pan out in the NFL.

[Forward_Lateral]

Yeah, it's close to a 50-50 chance, probably less even. I don't know how much NFL scouts put into the Heisman hype though.

[trapezeus]

yeah, i wasn't saying none of the players turn out well. i was born in the late 70's. and the heisman in the early 80's had bo jackson and marcus allen. It had always kind of been touted to be an award that kind of foretold NFL greatness. and it really just hasn't since the early 90's. The lions were drafting Heisman QB after Heisman QB and it's kind of just become an "you are amazing right now, but if you don't have the heart to put the work in, you'll suck at the next level award."

It's just odd that sports writers hail the picking as this big honor for themselves to teach us know nothing fans who is a great player, and in the end they are about as accurate as us.

[Forward_Lateral]

There have been some HOF Hesiman winners, like Sanders, Tim Brown, Allen but there has also been some atrocious busts like Rashan Salaam, Gino Toretta and Eric Crouch.

[BidsJr]

Yeah, it's close to a 50-50 chance, probably less even. I don't know how much NFL scouts put into the Heisman hype though.


I can answer this one..... 0%

[mikemac2001]

why was jason white blacklisted (other then sucking?)

[X-Era]

Watching the game, i was unimpressed with Newton. it got me thinking, "when is the last time a heisman winner went on to do well in the NFL?"

also, why is the heisman still considered some future predictor of NFL talent. all these reporters are just self congratulatory, but the heisman tends to just show who is good at the moment and not necessarily who is a good player. Would you agree with this?Sam Bradford seems to be so far.

[EricStratton]

The Heisman was never looked at as a prediction of an NFL career, it was and is a measure of who the writers think is the best player in college any given year.

Add in that it needs to be the best player on a very good team and it should be a QB or RB and only a RB if there are no GREAT QB's and it's pretty much a beauty contest.

[Raptor]

Watching the game, i was unimpressed with Newton. it got me thinking, "when is the last time a heisman winner went on to do well in the NFL?"

also, why is the heisman still considered some future predictor of NFL talent. all these reporters are just self congratulatory, but the heisman tends to just show who is good at the moment and not necessarily who is a good player. Would you agree with this?


Who said it was?

They pick the best college player not the best future NFL player

[trapezeus]

no one said that, but there is this, "we've told you he was great here, he'll be great anywhere." tone that sports reporters who vote on it try to suggest. i know it isn't, but of late, there have been a lot of busts.

[better days]

Sam Bradford seems to be so far.

Bradford may prove to be a good QB, but he sure didn't look like it in the last regular season game against the Seahawks with the NFC West title on the line.

[trapezeus]

bradford got picked at the end of the game which lost the game officially. however, there were a number of well placed balls that were just flat out dropped. one being thebig gainer that could have won it.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

why was jason white blacklisted (other then sucking?) The main reason was because he had injury problems with his knees. He didn't suck so much as he was hurt a lot.

Still, he wasn't drafted and it took him several weeks to even get a tryout-- which is highly unusual for a Heisman winner.

[TrEd FTW]

Bradford may prove to be a good QB, but he sure didn't look like it in the last regular season game against the Seahawks with the NFC West title on the line.

You can't judge Bradford on one game. By rookie QB standards, the kid had a phenomenal year. He threw for over 3,500 yards, finished with more TDs than picks (18 to 15), completed 60 percent of his passes, and helped the Rams go from 1-15 to 7-9. Bradford is going to be a star.

[YardRat]

I'm pretty sure the reporters that vote on the Heisman realize the award is for the best player in college football, and also that it doesn't necessarily translate to success in the NFL.

[Thief]

The Heismen was never billed as a predictor of NFL success, only as a award for college success. Or so I thought.

[X-Era]

Bradford may prove to be a good QB, but he sure didn't look like it in the last regular season game against the Seahawks with the NFC West title on the line.I'm not basing my eval on one game.

[EDS]

I'm not basing my eval on one game.

I would happily trade the Bills top two picks in the 2011 draft to the Rams for Bradford.