Welcome to Chat Sports' first installment of Lee's List -- my weekly look at the crop of contenders duking it out for the ultimate college football individual honor, the Heisman Trophy. Week 3 of the college football season brought some fresh faces into the fray and cemented some familiar ones as bona fide leaders of the pack. Here's the eight guys currently pacing the nation in the 2015 Heisman race.
8) RB Derrick Henry -- Alabama Crimson Tide
We can't write off Henry in the wake of Alabama's 43-37 upset loss to Ole Miss on Saturday. We just can't. He rushed for 127 yards and generally set the tone for the Tide when the passing game turned itself off for stretches. He's not the top-three candidate he was to open things off this year -- thus is the nature of losses in college football and how they impact the Heisman race. But, he's still in the conversation.
7) QB Jared Goff -- Cal Golden Bears
Goff is the best pure passer in the nation and our pick for the 1st quarterback off the board in the 2016 NFL Draft. He had yet another solid-to-great day in Cal's hang-on-by-their-fingernails 45-44 win on Saturday, tossing two TDs against no picks and functioning as the nerve center for one of the most dynamic offenses in all of college football.
6) RB Dalvin Cook -- Florida State Seminoles
The knock against Cook being this high? He rushed for just over 50 yards against Boston College on Friday and he suffered a minor injury. The plus side here? Cook will have the benefit of rushing against some weak ACC run defenses the next few weeks. This is a pick based on future potential. He'll vault up this list before long.
5) RB Jordan Howard -- Indiana Hoosiers
Howard leads all FBS running backs with 507 yards rushing and has proven to be more than a worthwhile heir apparent to the #1 spot vacated by Tevin Coleman. He's toiling in relative obscurity with the Hoosiers, but that's no detraction from how great he's been.
4) RB Paul Perkins -- UCLA Bruins
Perkins has thrust himself into the top of the Heisman mix with a 220-yard, one-touchdown effort in UCLA's one-point home win over BYU last night. He was lost in freshman QB Josh Rosen's shadow for the first two weeks of the year, but that's all changed now.
3) QB Trevone Boykin -- TCU Horned Frogs
If Jared Goff is the best pure passer in the nation, Boykin is the best overall quarterback in the land. You earn that designation when you can complete 70% of your passes and connect for five touchdowns out of the blue. He did that in TCU's win over SMU last night, cementing himself in our Top 3.
2) RB Nick Chubb -- Georgia Bulldogs
Nick Chubb kills run defenses dead. His 159-yard, two-touchdown performance in Georgia's destruction of South Carolina last night was overshadowed by the #1 entrant on our list. However, we've got a sneaking suspicion he'll occupy the #1 spot in our rankings somewhere down the road as Georgia gets its crack at some spotty run defenses around the SEC.
1) RB Leonard Fournette -- LSU Tigers
Fournette rushed for a career-high 228 yards in LSU's 45-21 gut punch win over Auburn yesterday. That's the good news. The great news is that he absolutely killed Auburn's front seven over and over with a highlight reel's worth of jukes and blown-up tackles. He's the man right now. It's up to the rest of the pack now to knock him off his perch.
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