Alabama’s Amari Cooper Moving Up Heisman Lists

Amari Cooper's incredible start to the 2014 season continues to move him closer to unparalleled heights as a pass catcher at The University of Alabama, but his most recent performance against Florida has taken his bid for history to a national level. 

With one-third of the Crimson Tide's college football season completed, Cooper is on pace to shatter every single-season receiving record in school history. Through four games, the junior has caught 43 passes for 655 yards and five touchdowns. Should this torrid pace continue, he'd finish somewhere around 120 receptions, 2000 yards, and 15 touchdowns.

Before any postseason games.

Repeating what he's accomplished in September three times over would be a lot to ask, even for the best receiver in college football this season, but a drop-off should still allow him to break the Alabama records for receptions (78 by Julio Jones), yards (1,133 by Julio Jones), and touchdowns (11 by Cooper in 2012).

But now it's time to look beyond the records in Tuscaloosa because so much more could potentially be in store for the Miami native. In just four weeks, he's gone from being unmentioned in the Heisman Trophy race to one of the favorites according to ESPN.

While the oddsmakers haven't reacted quite as favorably, Cooper's chances of winning have increased all the way up to 15/1, which is good for 6th best in the country. Here's how the odds look as of September 24:

Marcus Mariota (3/2)

Kenny Hill (13/2)

Todd Gurley (7/1)

Dak Prescott (12/1)

Everett Golson (12/1)

Amari Cooper (15/1)

Melvin Gordon (15/1)

Nick Marshall (15/1)

Taysom Hill (15/1)

While he still has an uphill battle just to remain in the conversation, it's a huge accomplishment to even be in the discussion at all. The Heisman Trophy has been handed out 78 times in its history. Only twice has a wide receiver reeled in the award.

That alone should tell you how unlikely it would be to see Cooper hoisting the bronze statue on stage at the Best Buy Theater later this year. Heck, even receiving an invite to New York City would place him in a group with just five other wide receivers all-time.

Can he do it? There's a chance.

First, because he's playing for a playoff contender.

Second, he'll be on a national stage nearly every week.

Third, the majority of the front-runners play in the SEC and will eventually have to run up against the Crimson Tide and its defense.

There will still be a lot working against him, which HeismanPundit.com did a great job explaining earlier this week, but Cooper's importance to this Alabama football team is something that can't be debated.