ESPN: Final Heisman Trophy Arguments

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He broke Herschel Walker's single-season SEC rushing record, for goodness' sake. He tied Tim Tebow's single-season rushing touchdown record as well. You want the best player on the best team? Then look no further than Alabama running back Derrick Henry. The 6-foot-3, 242-pound junior from Yulee, Florida, is a monster running between the tackles, leading the country in rushing yards and yards after contact. What's more, he has speed, too, coming in second among Power 5 backs in carries of 25 yards or more.

You want a "Most Valuable Player"? He's that, too. He represents more than 36 percent of Alabama's total yards and 42 percent of its total touchdowns. Take him away, and Alabama is a three- or four-loss team. The offense is predicated off of him running the football so quarterback Jake Coker can work play-action and throw the ball deep. And with Kenyan Drake injured for much of the season and the third- and fourth-string backs being true freshmen, it really is all on Henry's shoulders, unlike in years past when Trent Richardson was Mark Ingram's sidekick and T.J. Yeldon was Eddie Lacy's backup.

Henry has done exactly what we ask of Heisman Trophy finalists -- get better as the season goes along and come up big in the biggest games. In his past six games against FBS opponents, he's averaging 208.8 rushing yards per game. In his last two games against Auburn and Florida in the SEC championship, he carried the ball a whopping 90 times for 460 yards and two touchdowns.

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