Heisman watch: Who can make the best impression down the stretch?

With rivalry weekend upon us, the Heisman contenders have a great opportunity to make a statement.

Every week, Dr. Saturday will name its five Heisman favorites in order with our frontrunner on top. As we've seen thus far, the list can change pretty quickly depending on the week.

Derrick Henry didn’t get a chance to show too much against Charleston Southern last Saturday, but he did enough to keep himself on the top of the Heisman heap while several others fell off.

Henry had nine carries for 68 yards and two touchdowns before he spent the second half resting on the bench. Those two scores, however, allowed Henry to tie Trent Richardson’s Alabama single-season record of 21 touchdowns. He’ll have a chance to break that record on Saturday in the Iron Bowl against rival Auburn. If the Tide win that game, they’ll clinch the SEC West and a spot in the SEC title game against Florida.

Christian McCaffrey added 389 all-purpose yards and three scores in last week’s win against Cal, which included a 98-yard kick return for a score. McCaffrey now has 2,807 all-purpose yards and is one of two players in the entire country to have more than 2,000 all-purpose yards. He has three games remaining to chase down Barry Sanders’ record of 3,250, which now seems very attainable.

There was a report earlier this week that said Christian McCaffrey reminded NFL scouts of former USC running back Reggie Bush. Bush won the Heisman in 2005 but had to give it back because of a violation of NCAA rules. Still, Bush was one of best running talents the college game has ever seen. For McCaffrey to be mentioned in the same breath as Bush is substantial.

All right, it’s time to put Cook back into the Heisman conversation. After a brief hiatus, Cook’s performance against Chattanooga and some ill-timed poor performances by other contenders, Cook is back on our list.

Cook had 15 carries for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the blowout win. It was Cook’s seventh 100-yard rushing performance of the season. Cook’s rushing touchdowns are tied with Amp Lee for second-most in school history.

While Saturday’s game was a romp, Cook, who has three 100-yard rushing games in a row, might find it difficult to replicate those numbers against a Florida defense that’s allowing teams just 108.3 rushing yards per game.

To show how important Baker Mayfield is to Oklahoma, one only has to look at the second half of Saturday’s win against TCU.

Mayfield suffered a helmet-to-helmet hit early in the second quarter, but stayed in the game and turned a 7-7 tie into a 23-7 halftime lead. But a headache kept Mayfield on the bench in the second half and the Oklahoma offense suffered. Backup Trevor Knight completed just five passes for 76 yards and the Sooners needed a 72-yard touchdown run by Samaje Perine to win the game. Luckily, Mayfield passed all of his concussion tests and barring setback, he will be back for this week’s game against rival Oklahoma State.

Deshaun Watson continues to gain momentum in the Heisman race, but he’s also not facing the best defensive competition.

Watson threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns against Wake Forest, but he also had two interceptions, which hurt his stock on this list. He’s thrown for 300 yards in three of the last four games. He also rushed for 44 yards and a score in Saturday's 33-13 win. Things won’t get any tougher this weekend against a South Carolina team that hasn’t been competitive on either side of the ball this season. Watson’s shot to make a big move up the Heisman board will come in the ACC title game against North Carolina.

MAKE THE CASE FOR…

Keenan Reynolds: We've had a few people questioning why Keenan Reynolds hasn’t been on our Heisman list and I want to note that it’s nothing personal against Reynolds. I think he’s a fantastic player.

That said, he’s not in the Heisman conversation for the same reason that players such as Graham Harrell, Case Keenun, Bryce Petty and Luke Falk never got serious consideration — he’s a product of his offense.

Navy is the No. 3 rushing offense in the country, averaging 348.4 yards per game. Reynolds is the leader of that offense and by extension gets the most pub. He has 201 carries for 1,009 yards and he’s thrown for 652 yards, which is impressive for a Navy QB, but he’s only completing 48.5 percent of his passes. He does have five touchdowns and no interceptions. But none of those numbers stack up to some of the other players on this list.