Did Christian McAffrey win the Heisman Trophy? Former Stanford RB's Heisman class and competition explored
Christian McAffrey is currently leading the running effort for the 49ers in the NFL and has recovered some of his old form from his earlier years with the Carolina Panthers. Just last year, his first with the Bay Area team, he made the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career.
But before making the NFL, McAffrey had a prolific college career with the Stanford Cardinal, being probably the best player the program has ever had.
In his time with the California school, McAffrey earned a series of accolades including earning First Team All-Pac-12 honors twice (2015, 2016), Consensus All-American honors, the Jet Award, the Paul Hornung Award, the AP College Football Player of the Year, and the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year. His best season was 2015 when he earned all of those awards.
However, the ultimate price eluded him, as he came second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2015. Fellow running back Derrick Henry, from the University of Alabama, came on top with 1,832 votes, while McAffrey's 1,539 votes came short.
That 2015 season, the Cardinal won the Rose Bowl and finished third in the AP Poll, their highest-ever ranking since 1940.
The 2015 season of Christian McAffrey by the numbers
In 2015, he amassed 3,864 all-purpose yards. The bulk of those came in the form of 2,019 rushing yards, which included eight rushing touchdowns. He also had 645 receiving yards, with five touchdowns.
He also pulled punt return and kickoff duty for Stanford, having 130 yards as a punt return specialist and 1,070 yards in kickoff returns. He recorded one touchdown on each specialty.
He was the MVP of the 45-16 Rose Bowl victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was the first-ever player to record more than 100 rushing and receiving yards at a Rose Bowl. He had 172 rushing yards in 18 carries, and 105 yards with one touchdown in four receptions.
His next season would be his last in college football, as he would be selected eighth overall in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.