Henry, a junior, leads the nation with 1,986 rushing yards and should become the first SEC back to cross the 2,000-yard threshold in the Cotton Bowl against Michigan State.
He is joined as a finalist by Stanford sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey, who has set an NCAA single-season record for all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving, returns) with 3,496, and Clemson sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has led the unbeaten Tigers to the No. 1 playoff seed and has 4,399 yards of total offense and has accounted for 41 TDs.
The award will be presented Saturday night in New York.