Week 7: Top six break away - finalist list emerging?
Every week, another Heisman candidate takes his turn alongside Stanford QB Andrew Luck in the top two. This week, it's Boise State QB Kellen Moore's turn. Moore returns to the #2 spot after a three-week absence.
More notably, we have in week 7 the emergence of a top tier that's substantially ahead of the rest of the pack. The top six Heisman candidates have top-10 support from more than 85% of the 48 Heisman voters surveyed. After Luck and Moore, the rest of the top tier are Oklahoma QB Landry Jones, Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson, Baylor QB Robert Griffin III, and Alabama RB Trent Richardson.
The seventh-place candidate, Houston QB Case Keenum, is way back - with top 10 support from just 57% of Heisman voters (but moving up two spots from #9.) Oklahoma States's WR Justin Blackmon and QB Brandon Weeden, and LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu fill out the rest of the top ten, each moving up three spots from last week.
Michigan QB Denard Robinson plunged among Heisman voters, dropping seven spots from #4 to #11. Last week, he appeared on 89% of Heisman watch lists - but only on 38% this week. Oregon RB LaMichael James also dropped big - five spots from #8 to #13. And South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore dropped out, having climbed to #10 before his season-ending injury last week.
Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill slipped into the top 15 this week at #15, returning to the ranking for the first time since week 3 (when he was #20.)
Also dropping out this week were Alabama LB Dont'a Hightower, USC WR Robert Woods, Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson, West Virginia QB Geno Smith, Notre Dame WR Michael Floyd.
Note: This week, we asked Heisman voters for a top 10 watch list. As a result, the Stiff Arm Trophy ranking is down to a top 15 ranking.
48 actual Heisman voters from 27 states participated in this week's StiffArmTrophy.com poll. The poll asked voters to share an unranked top-10 "watch list" for the Heisman Trophy.
| rank | player | weighted% | votes | prev | |
| 1 | Stanford QB Andrew Luck | 100% | 48 | 1 | |
| 2 |  | Boise St QB Kellen Moore | 96% | 46 | 3 |
| 3 |  | Oklahoma QB Landry Jones | 93% | 45 | 2 |
| 4 | | Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson | 90% | 43 | 5 |
| 5 | | Baylor QB Robert Griffin III | 86% | 42 | 7 |
| 6 | Alabama RB Trent Richardson | 85% | 42 | 6 | |
| 7 | | Houston QB Case Keenum | 57% | 28 | 9 |
| 8 | | Oklahoma St WR Justin Blackmon | 44% | 20 | 11 |
| 9 | | Oklahoma St QB Brandon Weeden | 38% | 18 | 12 |
| 10 | | LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu | 38% | 20 | 13 |
| 11 | | Michigan QB Denard Robinson | 37% | 16 | 4 |
| 12 | | Clemson QB Tajh Boyd | 37% | 18 | 14 |
| 13 | | Oregon RB LaMichael James | 35% | 19 | 8 |
| 14 | | Oklahoma WR Ryan Broyles | 25% | 13 | 15 |
| 15 | | Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill | 13% | 6 | -- |
Regional breakdown and list of participating voters on the jump...
With votes coming from multiple states, players are ranked based on a weighted percentage that adjusts for the number of participating voters in each state.
Here's the regional breakdown:
| rank | player | Atlantic | Midwest | Northeast | South | Southwest | West |
| 1 | Stanford QB Andrew Luck | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 2 | Boise St QB Kellen Moore | 100% | 87% | 100% | 90% | 100% | 100% |
| 3 | Oklahoma QB Landry Jones | 71% | 100% | 100% | 90% | 100% | 100% |
| 4 | Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson | 100% | 87% | 80% | 90% | 83% | 100% |
| 5 | Baylor QB Robert Griffin III | 100% | 75% | 80% | 90% | 91% | 83% |
| 6 | Alabama RB Trent Richardson | 100% | 75% | 80% | 100% | 91% | 66% |
| 7 | Houston QB Case Keenum | 57% | 62% | 80% | 60% | 66% | 16% |
| 8 | Oklahoma St WR Justin Blackmon | 42% | 25% | 60% | 30% | 41% | 66% |
| 9 | Oklahoma St QB Brandon Weeden | 42% | 37% | 40% | 30% | 33% | 50% |
| 10 | LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu | 14% | 37% | 20% | 60% | 50% | 50% |
| 11 | Michigan QB Denard Robinson | 42% | 37% | 60% | 20% | 16% | 50% |
| 12 | Clemson QB Tajh Boyd | 57% | 37% | 40% | 30% | 41% | 16% |
| 13 | Oregon RB LaMichael James | 28% | 62% | 0% | 40% | 50% | 33% |
| 14 | Oklahoma WR Ryan Broyles | 14% | 12% | 40% | 10% | 58% | 16% |
| 15 | Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill | 14% | 25% | 0% | 10% | 0% | 33% |
Participating voters included:
Mid-Atlantic: Frank Bodani, Doug Doughty, Phil Kornblut, Chuck Landon, Keith Morehouse, Matthew Osborne, Keith Sargeant
Midwest: Andy Baggot, Randy Beard, Mike Carmin, Doug Clarke, Todd Hefferman, Jeff Rapp, Drew Sharp, Jon Spencer
Northeast: Cory McCartney, Rick McGowan, Chuck Pollock, Lenn Robbins, B.J. Schecter
South: Sean Baligian, Rick Bozich, Olin Buchanan, Joe Girvan, Cecil Hurt, Joey Johnston, Phillip Marshall, Joshua Parrott, Billy Reed, Bob Tompkins
Southwest: Kirk Bohls, Jimmy Burch, Sean Callahan, David Collier, Suzanne Halliburton, Gary Ivins, Josh Kinder, Harry King, Reid Laymance, Bob Lutz, Dave Matter, Mike'l Severe
West: Mark Anderson, Roxy Bernstein, Steve Bisheff, Mike Lewis, Eric Schmoldt, Kevin Schnepf