ESPN took to a brief preview last week for potential Big East Offensive Player of the Year candidates. As expected, Ray Graham made the short list.

Maybe not quite as expected, fans don't view him as the top offensive talent in the league.

In a poll, Graham trails Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater (as of now, anyway). He's currently tied with South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniels for second. Part of that is because of Graham's injury last season and another factor is surely that the Cardinals are one of the favorites to win the conference.

Graham got off to such a fast start last year, I'd have a difficult time picking against him. And in the case of Bridgewater, he put up extremely modest numbers as a freshman last year. I'm a bit surprised he's expected to take such a jump (even by fans) to surpass Graham and Daniels. Bridgewater looked good as a freshman last year, but still needs to make big strides to contend for the award.

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