McFadden Named Pre-Season Favorite to Win Heisman Trophy by His National Peers

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas junior Darren McFadden is the pre-season favorite to win the Heisman Trophy according to a poll of players from all 119 Division I-A football teams. The question was posed to one starter from each team as part of a poll conducted by SI.com.

McFadden garnered 58 percent of the vote with Southern California’s John David Booty finishing a distant second with 10.1 percent. West Virginia’s Steve Slaton was third (8.4%), with Louisville’s Brian Brohm (4.2%) and Hawai’i’s Colt Brennan (3.4%) finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Other candidates garnered 11.7 percent of the vote and 4.2 percent of the voters declined to respond.

McFadden finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up last season and is the only Heisman finalist to return for the 2007 season. The Little Rock, Ark., native became the first Razorback to earn a trip to New York as a finalist for the award. He also captured the 2006 Doak Walker Award, presented annually to the nation’s top running back.