After last year’s season ended with a competitive race for the Heisman Trophy, several sports critics predicted the same for this year’s college football season, especially since the top three candidates are all back.

Unfortunately, it is safe to say that Sam Bradford will not be this year’s 2009-2010 Heisman Trophy winner due to a devastating, severe shoulder injury. The returning Heisman Trophy winner has only played half of a game against Brigham Young University, a full game against Baylor University, and eight plays against the University of Texas before reinjuring his shoulder that was previously hurt against BYU.

Meanwhile, Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy’s performances have not been very impressive. Although both quarterbacks have been producing victories for their teams, they’ve had average individual performances.

This has left the door open for others who have had an outstanding performance this season.

Someone who has been excelling this college football season and should be considered as a Heisman Trophy candidate is Texas’ wide receiver Jordan Shipley.

He has been Texas’ best offense and special teams player this year, scoring a total of five touchdowns. Shipley gave his best performance in Texas’ 38-14 victory over the University of Colorado, earning 273 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.

Even though he didn’t have an explosive game against the University of Oklahoma, it’s important to realize that he was double-teamed throughout the entire game. Oklahoma understood the significance of Shipley’s talent, and the fact that he is McCoy’s security blanket. They knew that taking Shipley out of the game would make it extremely difficult for Texas’ offense to produce.

So with the potential that Shipley has shown this season, his chances of becoming a possible Heisman Trophy candidate increases if he consistently dominates game after game.