Ok, for weeks I've been saying the Heisman Trophy is a quarterback award and, if we're speaking from recent history, it is. Since 2000, there have only been five non-quarterbacks (Reggie Bush, Mark Ingram II, Derrick Henry, DeVonta Smith and Travis Hunter) that have won the award.
But this has been a different year and some of the quarterbacks that we expected to be in the race for college football's top individual award haven't been a factor (Hello, Arch Manning!) but there has also been a nice surge of wide receivers and running backs to make the competition interesting.
For another week, Darian Mensah's odds jumped, moving from +420 to +370 on FanDuel, but the Miami Hurricanes QB is not the favorite. That honor belongs to Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith, who jumped from +850 to +280. The big leaps came from Florida's Jadan Baugh, who leaped from +6500 into the top tier of favorites at +1300.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
One of these seven players will win the Heisman Trophy
Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith (+280): 12 catches, 217 yards, 4 TDs (vs. Illinois)
Miami QB Darian Mensah (+370): 23-for-27, 338 passing yards, 3 TDs (vs. Central Michigan)
Mississippi State's QB Kamario Taylor (+750): 27-for-38, 360 passing yards, 3 TDs, INT (vs. Missouri)
Alabama QB Keelon Russell (+1100): 21-for-27, 365 yards, 4 TDs, rushing TD (vs South Carolina)
Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss (+1100): 25-for-34, 298 passing yards, TDs, INT (vs. Florida)
Notre Dame QB CJ Carr (+1300): 14-for-22, 237 passing yards, 3 TDs, INT (vs. Purdue)
Florida RB Jadan Baugh (+1300): 29 carries, 142 yards, 3 TDs (vs. Ole Miss)
Yeah, it's hard to hate what Smith did to the Illini. He beat up Illinois so bad, the Illini's defensive coordinator had to get sent home. But Mensah has 14 touchdowns and no interceptions! He's completing 88.7% of his passes. Do we really appreciate how good he's been?
And where is Malachi Toney? How does he drop from +1500 to +3000 after having six catches for 120 yards and a touchdown against the Chippewas? It feels like the Heisman oddsmakers have decided only one wide receiver and one running back can try to crack the Heisman's glass ceiling, and they have chose Smith and Baugh.
However, I'm not ready to write off Toney. He could easily have a massive game against Clemson, and he'll be right back in the picture.
Time to write these former Heisman contenders off
However, there are a couple of players that have all but been eliminated from the Heisman conversation:
Texas QB Arch Manning (+3000): Sorry, it isn't happening this year and as much as ESPN and the SEC-dominated media are trying to make the next generation of Mannings a thing, Arch isn't the one.
Ohio State QB Julian Sayin (+3000): Here's the best way to describe Sayin; Jeremiah Smith is incredible and Julian Sayin is the lucky one that gets to throw him the football. Sayin gives me heavy Mac Jones vibes.
USC QB Jayden Maiava (+10000): Maiava has been much better than Manning or Sayin this season and would be among the favorites if he were at Texas or Ohio State. But he's at USC and the Trojans lost to Oregon in a game that will likely define their season. Maiava didn't play poorly against the Ducks, but USC didn't win.and his odds predictably faded.
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