The Heisman Watch is about to become the Heisman countdown because, as long as Jeremiah Smith is healthy and playing, he's going to win the award given to college football's top player. The Ohio State wide receiver's odds jumped to -110 on FanDuel, while Mensah is still second, but dropped to +700.
There is still a race to see who will be a finalist and earn the honor of going to New York to watch Smith at the Downtown Athletic Club. So now we can shift to determining who will be a Heisman finalist and how many finalists will be invited to New York in December.
Plus, Darian Mensah has to be considered the favorite for the Davey O'Brien Award, so there's that. Mensah would be the fourth Miami Hurricane to win the award, joining Vinny Testaverde (1986), Gino Torretta (1992) and Cam Ward (2024).
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
Current Heisman odds according to FanDuel
Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith (-110)
Miami QB Darian Mensah (+700)
Alabama QB Keelon Russell (+700)
Notre Dame QB CJ Carr (+750)
Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss (+1500)
Texas QB Arch Manning (+3000)
Miami WR Malachi Toney (+3000)
Georgia QB Gunner Stockton (+3000)
Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor (+3500)
Ohio State QB Julian Sayin (+3500)
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
Why does Carr still have favorite-level odds? He hasn't thrown for more than 253 yards in any of the five games this season. Carr is a fine quarterback, but should be ahead of Chambliss? Absolutely not. Both Taylor (down from +750 to +3500) and Florida's Jadan Baugh (down from +1500 to +8000) had status as one of the favorites for a single week.
The quarterback options once you get past Mensah, Russell and Chambliss are pretty thin. No one thinks Manning is a legitimate Heisman contender. Stockton is a good player, but it's hard to see him getting gaudy numbers the way Georgia's offense is designed and Sayin is the guy that has the good fortune of throwing to Smith.
Is there anything Darian Mensah can do to challenge Jeremiah Smith?
The best chance Mensah has at putting some heat on Smith is to have a crazy game against Notre Dame. I'm talking something like 450+ yards passing and five touchdowns. And not only that, but Mensah would have to hope that Smith doesn't have any more 200-yard receiving games and that is going to be a personal choice because there's no one in the Big Ten that can stop him.
Mensah also has the prospect of split votes working against him. For every great game Mensah has, it's very likely that Malachi Toney will have equally impressive numbers. Smith doesn't have the same issue because no one thinks Julian Sayin is a great quarterback.
While he does have the Notre Dame game to point to, numbers don't seem to be important to Mensah. He just wants to win and, however that comes about, is his primary source of motivation. Mensah will get to New York as a finalist and that in itself is an accomplishment that should be applauded. But he'll be glad to give up the Heisman trophy to win the CFP Championship.
Add us as a preferred source on Google