COLUMBUS, Ohio - It was announced Monday that this year's Heisman Trophy ceremony will have a strong makeup of Scarlet and Gray.

Justin Fields and Chase Young will represent Ohio State in New York while LSU's Joe Burrow and Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts will also make the trip to Radio City Music Hall.

Any one of those previously listed would make an excellent addition to the storied list of Heisman winners, though with the ability of the Heisman voters to include as many finalists as they would like, there will be a notable exception on Saturday: a running back.

There were a handful of running backs this season that stood head and shoulders above the rest, and one was Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins who was not elected as a finalist despite a push from the team and a resume that spoke for itself.

Dobbins was third in the nation with 1,829 rushing yards, fifth in the nation with 20 rushing touchdowns and led the Big Ten with 6.5 yards per carry.

Running backs have had a difficult time being named a finalist as of late with only nine running backs among the combined 35 finalists in the last 10 Heisman ceremonies going back to the 2010 trophy presentation.

Those nine running back candidates have put up some impressive numbers, some rushing for as many 2,500 yards (Melvin Gordon) and 33 rushing touchdowns (Montee Ball).

If you take the average of every running back that finished as a Heisman finalist since 2010, you would end up with a player averaging around 2,029 rushing yards, 321 carries, 6.3 yards per carry and around 23 touchdowns on the season.

As it stands through the Big Ten Championship Game, Dobbins is up to 1,829 rushing yards on 283 carries, good for 6.5 yards per carry, and 20 rushing touchdowns.

Dobbins has fewer rushing yards and touchdowns than all but three players on the list and has the third highest yards per carry, but has significantly fewer carries than anyone else besides Bryce Love.

While Dobbins may not match up statistically with these candidates as it stands, the statistics show what their numbers looked like at the end of the season, not when the Heisman voters were deciding on finalists.

Extrapolating Dobbins' current 13-game season to the 14 games played by the majority of finalists would give him 1,969 yards, 305 carries, 6.5 yards per carry and 22 touchdowns on the season, all well within the average of the other running back Heisman finalists.

Unfortunately for Dobbins, he was limited by a few extenuating circumstances this season from rising to his true potential as a Heisman candidate.

The first is that despite having the fourth most carries in the nation (283), Dobbins' use was mostly limited to the first half. The Buckeyes won each of their first 10 games by at least 24 points, so with the exception of the first game against Wisconsin that was close in the second half, Dobbins was rarely needed in the second half until the last few games of the season.

If Dobbins had played in four quarters in every game this season, there's no telling where his numbers could have ended up if the Buckeyes needed him late.

Another reason behind Dobbins' potential snub is that Ohio State already has two candidates of their own. In fact, the Buckeyes are the only team to ever have an offensive and defensive finalist in the same season, so it seems reasonable that a third candidate would have been piling on. Not to mention that Fields' offensive accomplishments have probably overshadowed some of what Dobbins has been able to do as eyes are usually on the quarterback, especially one as good as Fields.

Additionally, and possibly most importantly, Dobbins may have split some of his votes due to the bevy of running backs this season that made a good case to be a Heisman finalist. Only two running backs finished with more yards than Dobbins this season: Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor and Oklahoma State's Chuba Hubbard.

Dobbins finished below both in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns but did have more yards per carry. In truth, any one of these running backs would have made a fine Heisman candidate, so there's an argument that at least one if not multiple of them should be on the stage this Saturday.

These players all hover around the averages of the last 10 years' worth of running back Heisman candidates, but in a year with so many prolific quarterback performances in addition to Young's record-breaking defensive season, the Heisman voters may have felt as though the running backs wouldn't have gotten a fair shake in the final voting tallies given the dominance happening around them.

Fields' 40-1 TD:INT ratio is unprecedented not just in 2019 but in the history of the sport, as he's the only quarterback to ever have at least 25 passing touchdowns and one or fewer interceptions. Young was able to not only break Ohio State's single-season sacks record with 16.5 sacks in 11 games, but he also broke the Big Ten single season record.

Burrow has broken the SEC passing yards and passing touchdowns record while Hurts has continued an impressive string of Heisman performances from Oklahoma quarterbacks.

While Dobbins may certainly have a bone to pick given that he matches up statistically with many of the previous Heisman running back candidates, it was simply the way the cards fell with Ohio State's dominance and the slew of successful, Heisman-caliber quarterbacks and running backs to grace college football this season that ultimately may have kept Dobbins out of New York.

Even though Dobbins won't be a part of the Heisman festivities, Ohio State will still have a strong representation with Fields and Young, and unlike the other backs who didn't make the final cut, Dobbins will have a chance to compete for a national championship in what will almost certainly be his final season with the Buckeyes.