Navy noticed Tuesday that quarterback Keenan Reynolds was not on the Nissan Heisman House fan poll.
Reynolds, the Midshipmen's record-setting quarterback, was leading the fan poll. But he's no longer an option as of Tuesday.
However, it doesn't appear to be a mass conspiracy on behalf of Nissan and ESPN to remove Reynolds. Here's what the current ballot looks like. At the bottom of the Heisman House site is a disclaimer that the candidates are provided by "ESPN Experts."
And here's the Heisman list, updated Tuesday, of those ESPN writers. You'll notice Reynolds isn't on it either and the names match up on both lists. It looks to be a case of the list simply being transferred from one site to the other.
Navy has every right to be unhappy given Reynolds' legendary career. Reynolds, a senior, set the FBS record for most career rushing touchdowns in 2015. He tied the record for most total touchdowns (83) in Friday's loss to Houston. Because of the sentimentality of his career production, Reynolds has been a popular choice among fans in the Heisman House fan poll. The fan poll counts as one official vote in the Heisman balloting.
But is Reynolds really a legitimate candidate? The Heisman is given to the best player in a given season, not as a career achievement award. While Reynolds has had a good season and is a hell of a player, the players on the list above are clearly ahead of Reynolds in the race.
Had Navy beaten Houston to head to the AAC Championship Game, Reynolds is probably on the list. Heisman consideration is helped greatly by team success. But since the Midshipmen don't have the chance to head to a New Year's Six Bowl, Reynolds isn't a realistic contender for the Heisman any longer even if he'll still wind up winning the fan vote via the write in option.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
