Clemson: Sammy Watkins

The junior is simply a touchdown waiting to happen when he gets his hands on the ball. He burst onto the scene two seasons ago as a freshman with 1,219 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. This season, he’s been even better with every defense focusing on him. He has 85 receptions for 1,237 yards and 10 scores with seven 100-yard games.

Stanford: Ty Montgomery

Can Stanford play grind-it-out football? Definitely. Can the Cardinal also throw in a dash of dynamic playmaking ability? Without a doubt. And when they do it, it’s most often with Montgomery. He averages 16.2 yards per reception (he has 58 of them) with 10 TDs. He averages 12.2 yards on 13 rushes with two scores and also has returned two kickoffs back for scores this season.

Florida State: Kelvin Benjamin

He’s been the closest thing to college football’s version of Calvin Johnson this season. He’s big (6-5, 240) and a red zone nightmare for defenders because of his physicality and height mismatch with defensive backs. But don’t sleep on him in the open field, either, because Benjamin will run past you and through you. He’s third on the Seminoles with 50 receptions, but his 19.1 yards per catch and 14 TDs lead the team.

Auburn: Nick Marshall

The junior quarterback is what makes the Auburn offense go … and go and go and go. He runs the zone read as well as any quarterback in the country. He has 1,023 rushing yards, including a 214-yard effort (on 14 carries) against Tennessee. He hasn’t been asked to throw the ball much, but his speed and quickness as a runner make him that much more of a threat as a passer. He’s completing 60.4 percent of his passes and has just one interception in his last eight games (109 attempts). He’s thrown for 1,759 yards and 12 scores.

Michigan State: Darqueze Dennard

Take your pick of elite athletes from the Spartans defense. Denicos Allen, Max Bullough, Kurtis Drummond. Dennard is one of, if not the nation’s top cover corner. Michigan State can focus on stopping the run because they can leave Dennard one-on-one with any receiver MSU faces. He has 59 tackles, four interceptions and a team-best 10 pass break-ups. Whatever the Spartans ask of their senior leader, he delivers.

Alabama: Amari Cooper

The sophomore put up better numbers last season as a freshman, immediately drawing comparisons to Alabama’s greatest receiver, Julio Jones. Nagging injuries have slowed him a little this season, but he showed what he can do against Auburn with a 178-yard effort which included a 99-yard TD reception that he made look like a walk in the park. He tall and fast and a tough matchup for any secondary as long as he’s in Tuscaloosa.

Ohio State: Braxton Miller

The junior does it all for the Buckeyes and it starts with his running ability. Last season, he gained 1,271 yards on the ground and has 1,033 this season despite missing some time early in the season with a minor knee injury. While that injury sidetracked him in the Heisman race (he was the frontrunner at the time), it’s a testament to his ability that he emerged again as a top candidate for the award. He’s improved as a passer, too, making him one of the game’s top three dual-threat quarterbacks. He’s completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 22 TDs and just five interceptions.

Florida State: Jameis Winston

What he’s done as a redshirt freshman has been nothing short of spectacular. He likely will become just the second freshman to win the Heisman, joining Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, who did it last year. Winston is big and tough to bring down. He’s also mobile enough to make defenders miss. Match up that with an elite group of receivers and a talented backfield and Winston becomes a headache for defensive coordinators. He’s completed a staggering 67.9 percent of his throws, and while he has been prone to a rookie mistake here and there, he has 38 TDs, just 10 interceptions and 3,825 passing yards.

Baylor: Antwan Goodley

Goodley entered the season with 19 career receptions for 197 yards. In 2013, he’s caught 68 passes for 1,329 yards and 13 scores in the Bears’ high-powered offense. He’s had at least 100 yards receiving in eight of 12 games and scored a TD in 10 of 12 games. Goodley is not the tallest receiver — he’s listed at 5-10 — but at 220 pounds he’s a physical mismatch when he gets the ball in space in the secondary. Not only does he have the speed to outrun defenders, he has the ability to bounce off them (or bounce the defender away from him).

Auburn: Tre Mason

The nation became acquainted with the junior running back the past two weeks when he ran for 164 yards against Alabama and then 304 yards and four scores against Missouri in the SEC title game. But Auburn fans have been excited about the small, but freight-truck-like back since his first game on the Plains in 2011 when he returned a kickoff 97 yards for a score against Utah State. No, he’s not just a low-to-the-ground, punishing runner who appears to get stronger as defenses tire, he’s also a gamebreaker with elite speed. He returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score against Washington State to start this season.