We already determined that the Heisman Trophy is Jeremiah Smith's to lose, and recent odds from FanDuel suggest that the gap between the All-American wide receiver and the rest of the field is widening.
Smith's odds of winning college football's top individual award are -210, well ahead of Darian Mensah, who comes in second at +1000. If this trend continues, and I don't see anyone in the Big Ten who can stop Smith from doing whatever he wants on the field, the "quarterback award" will have been won by a non-quarterback for the third time this decade.
At this point, it's not about what Mensah can do to catch Smith, but what he needs to do to make sure he's in New York on the second Saturday of December. Helping the Miami Hurricanes put up some big numbers against the Seminoles would go a long way to being a finalist lock. . . plus, wouldn't it be fun to torch FSU's defense in Mike Norvell's final game?
Darian Mensah is the top QB in the current Heisman odds
Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith -210
Miami QB Darian Mensah +1000
Notre Dame QB CJ Carr +1200
Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss +1300
Georgia QB Gunner Stockton +1400
Alabama QB Keelon Russell +2000
Ohio State QB Julian Sayin +4000
Oklahoma State QB Drew Mestemaker +4000
Indiana QB Josh Hoover +5500
Miami WR Malachi Toney +6500
Eight of the top ten players in the odds are still quarterbacks, so it still is a quarterback award. This just happens to be one of those years when a position player happens to be far and away the best player in the sport, and no one can deny it. And it's good to see Malachi Toney still hanging in the top ten. As I said before, there are no legitimate reasons why Toney's odds have fallen so much.
As for finalists, I would be surprised if there were more than four, and there could be as few as three. When the top player is such an overwhelming favorite, there isn't as much of a desire to invite five finalists unless the separation between the players who finish between second and fifth is very little.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
What about the players that started the season as favorites?
Some have fallen off. The biggest faller is Texas' Arch Manning, who was still hanging on last week before the loss to Oklahoma dropped his odds to +10000. Oregon's Dante Moore was also a top-five Heisman favorite to start the season, and now he's completely off the board. And there is the curious case of Mississippi State's Kamario Taylor (+8000), who rose up quickly and dropped just as fast after the Bulldogs lost to Alabama.
If there are still any potential dark horses that could make their way to New York, I would keep an eye on Missouri's Austin Simmons (+10000). He didn't have great numbers against Texas A&M (14-of-28, 147 yards, TD/INT), but with games against Ole Miss, Texas, and Georgia left on the schedule, there are a lot of opportunities for him to build momentum with a big performance in an upset.
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