pretty good piece on Yeldon and Henry.
http://secsportsinsider.com/yeldon-heisman-contender/
Back in January Yeldon was getting five-to-one odds to win the Heisman. Here we are in May and his Heisman odds have fallen to 14-1 behind Georgiaās Todd Gurley who is at 12-1 odds and leads the SEC on Vegasā big boards to win the award.
The likely reason Yeldonās odds have slipped since January is the emergence of RB Derrick Henry(20-1) in the All-State Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma. Henryās performance in the BCS game along with his performance in Tuscaloosa against Arkansas, both 100 yard games, helped to catapult him into Alabama spotlight but his 43 yard run against Oklahoma on a national stage has set the tone for this off-season.
That said Yeldon is the better consistent back for the Crimson Tide with six 100+ yard games in 2013 hence the reason his odds were so high in January. If Yeldon wins the award he will be the first RB to win the award since Mark Ingram in 2000.
Yeldonās numbers over the past two seasons have been solid to say the least with 2343 yards and 26 touchdowns the bulk of which came last season. To solidify his chance to win the Heisman heāll have to carry the rock a few more times compared to last seasonās 207. Ingram had 271 carries his Heisman winning year compared to freshman Trent Richardsonās 145 touches.
The amount of touches will be key to Yeldonās Heisman campaign, period. Last season Alabama had five other backs with 20 or more carries. Itās a beautiful thing when you have a stable of running backs that deep but itās not so pretty when you are on the march for a Heisman campaign.
Either way a win is a win and the bigger picture is the national championship for Nick Saban. If Saban can keep Yeldon healthy and utilize him just a bit more its safe to say that Yeldon will be the front-runner for the Heisman in 2014.
Betting Statistics
In 2012 3.45 billion was wagered in Nevada alone legally and its estimated that $380 billion was wagered illegally according to the American Gaming Association.
Nevadaās sports books profited $170 million in 2012 out of the $3.45 billion wagered. Say what you want about Vegas but it looks like some people won some pretty hefty sums that year. Still a million is a million to me either way and I wouldnāt mind just getting 10% of what they profited.
Itās estimated that 2/3ā²s of all sports bets are not college related but the FBI estimates that more than $2.5 billion is wagered on March Madness alone.
http://secsportsinsider.com/yeldon-heisman-contender/