First-place votes
A seemingly-simple metric that's often used is the number of first-place votes that a Heisman candidate can get.
But, of course, that's deceiving - since there will be more first-place votes in the years where there are more voters. Again, we recommend using a percentage, in order to make year-to-year comparisons meaningful.
Note: We're not able to include the years 1935-1950 - as the Trophy Trust website does not have the 1-2-3 vote breakdown listed for those years.
| year | voters | name | #1 votes | pct #1s |
| 2006 | 924 | Troy Smith | 801 | 86.7% |
| 2005 | 923 | Reggie Bush | 784 | 84.9% |
| 1993 | 919 | Charlie Ward | 740 | 80.5% |
| 2010 | 925 | Cam Newton | 729 | 78.8% |
| 1998 | 921 | Ricky Williams | 714 | 77.5% |
| 1968 | 1200 | O.J. Simpson | 855 | 71.3% |
| 1991 | 917 | Desmond Howard | 640 | 69.8% |
| 1976 | 1048 | Tony Dorsett | 701 | 66.9% |
| 1984 | 1050 | Doug Flutie | 678 | 64.6% |
| 1986 | 1050 | Vinny Testaverde | 678 | 64.6% |
| 1999 | 922 | Ron Dayne | 586 | 63.6% |
| 1988 | 917 | Barry Sanders | 559 | 61.0% |
| 1951 | 987 | Richard Kazmaier | 506 | 51.3% |
| 1982 | 1050 | Herschel Walker | 525 | 50.0% |
| 2007 | 925 | Tim Tebow | 462 | 49.9% |
| 1997 | 921 | Charles Woodson | 433 | 47.0% |
| 1963 | 1123 | Roger Staubach | 517 | 46.0% |
| 1983 | 1050 | Mike Rozier | 482 | 45.9% |
| 1974 | 1075 | Archie Griffin | 483 | 44.9% |
| 1955 | 1324 | Howard Cassady | 594 | 44.9% |
| 2011 | 927 | Robert Griffin III | 405 | 43.7% |
| 1975 | 1041 | Archie Griffin | 454 | 43.6% |
| 1994 | 920 | Rashaan Salaam | 400 | 43.5% |
| 1959 | 1197 | Billy Cannon | 519 | 43.4% |
| 1979 | 1050 | Charles White | 453 | 43.1% |
| 1981 | 1050 | Marcus Allen | 441 | 42.0% |
| 1970 | 1264 | Jim Plunkett | 510 | 40.3% |
| 2000 | 922 | Chris Weinke | 369 | 40.0% |
| 1960 | 1130 | Joe Bellino | 436 | 38.6% |
| 1966 | 1160 | Steve Spurrier | 433 | 37.3% |
| 1967 | 1033 | Gary Beban | 369 | 35.7% |
| 1977 | 1050 | Earl Campbell | 371 | 35.3% |
| 2003 | 922 | Jason White | 319 | 34.6% |
| 1990 | 917 | Ty Detmer | 316 | 34.5% |
| 1992 | 918 | Gino Torretta | 310 | 33.8% |
| 1996 | 920 | Danny Wuerffel | 300 | 32.6% |
| 2008 | 926 | Sam Bradford | 300 | 32.4% |
| 1987 | 1050 | Tim Brown | 324 | 30.9% |
| 1953 | 1255 | John Lattner | 384 | 30.6% |
| 1985 | 1050 | Bo Jackson | 317 | 30.2% |
| 1995 | 921 | Eddie George | 268 | 29.1% |
| 2004 | 923 | Matt Leinart | 267 | 28.9% |
| 1971 | 1260 | Pat Sullivan | 355 | 28.2% |
| 1972 | 1127 | Johnny Rodgers | 301 | 26.7% |
| 1989 | 918 | Andre Ware | 242 | 26.4% |
| 2002 | 922 | Carson Palmer | 242 | 26.2% |
| 1958 | 1191 | Pete Dawkins | 296 | 24.9% |
| 2009 | 925 | Mark Ingram | 227 | 24.5% |
| 1969 | 1212 | Steve Owens | 294 | 24.3% |
| 1973 | 1075 | John Cappelletti | 229 | 21.3% |
| 1980 | 1050 | George Rogers | 216 | 20.6% |
| 1964 | 1104 | John Huarte | 216 | 19.6% |
| 1957 | 1267 | John David Crow | 241 | 19.0% |
| 2001 | 925 | Eric Crouch | 162 | 17.5% |
| 1961 | 1091 | Ernie Davis | 179 | 16.4% |
| 1954 | 1318 | Alan Ameche | 214 | 16.2% |
| 1962 | 1109 | Terry Baker | 172 | 15.5% |
| 1965 | 1160 | Mike Garrett | 179 | 15.4% |
| 1956 | 1318 | Paul Hornung | 197 | 14.9% |
| 1978 | 1050 | Billy Sims | 151 | 14.4% |
| 1952 | 1222 | Billy Vessels | 98 | 8.0% |
If you want to give credit, please credit "analysis by Kari Chisholm, a political consultant who operates StiffArmTrophy.com".