It’s the most prestigious individual award in all of sports, and Athlon's Heisman Watch spotlights the top 25 candidates to hoist the trophy. Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray is next on the 2009 list, which will be released in no particular order.

You want the complete package in an offensive football player, look no further than DeMarco Murray. He runs, catches and returns kicks. And does them all extremely well.

It’s no secret that Oklahoma is loaded in the backfield but Murray is the centerpiece to the group. He rushed for 1,002 yards and 14 touchdowns last season on only 179 carries — a 5.6 yard average. Murray gives the Sooners a terrific burst upfield when taking a handoff and a dangerous receiver on the wing. He grabbed 31 receptions for 395 yards and four touchdowns in 2008.

The biggest wildcard in Murray’s Heisman campaign is the kick returns. He had 28 opportunities that he turned into 774 yards last year — a 27.6-yard average. That’s a really quick way to pile up those all-purpose yards that voters seems to love so much. Combine his three totals and Murray had 2,171 all-purpose yards. Reggie Bush had 2,890 when he won the Heisman in 2005 so Murray reaching that magic number in a healthy season isn’t out of the question.

Still, his biggest concern is once again injury. Murray begins his second straight season coming off a significant setback (this one a hamstring that caused him to miss the BCS Championship) and if he’s slow to find his stride, as it was last season, he’ll be eliminated from this very deep Heisman field quickly.

Why he’ll be holding the hardware: Those all-purpose yards. Only Jahvid Best on our list of Heisman candidates will be able to rival Murray’s all-purpose yardage totals if he continues to return kicks. That and hope that Sam Bradford yields a little more to the running game.

Why he’ll be left out: Injuries and shared workload. There are too many good players on Oklahoma’s offense for Murray to stand out — especially when he’s got the reigning Heisman winner a few yards in front of him every play. Chris Brown actually rushed for more yards than Murray last season.

Final analysis: Murray’s an exciting player to watch but he won’t be able to make any kind of dent in this year’s Heisman voting.