The road to the 2023 Heisman Trophy is about to officially begin.
College football returns on Saturday with six Division I games scheduled across the country and one more in Ireland. Among the teams making their season-debuts during Week 0 is USC, led by reigning Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Caleb Williams.
The Heisman Trophy goes to the most outstanding player in college football. Last season, that was Williams. In his first season with the USC Trojans after transferring in from Oklahoma, Williams threw for 4,537 yards and 42 touchdowns, while adding another 10 scores on the ground. USC won 11 games and earned a berth in the Cotton Bowl with its All-American QB.
Entering his junior season, Williams is widely considered the betting favorite to win the Heisman again. Here’s a look at Williams and other Heisman contenders as the new season kicks off.
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Odds Favor Williams to Repeat as Heisman Trophy Winner
The 2022 Heisman Trophy race was the closest one in years.
Williams earned 2,031 points from voters, beating out TCU quarterback Max Duggan’s 1,420 points. That marked the closest winning vote margin in four years. Despite the relatively close results, Williams dominated in first-place votes, receiving 544 compared to Duggan’s 188. Of the top-six Heisman finishers from last season, only Williams is back for another college football season. The other five are now in the NFL.
DraftKings, MGM, and FanDuel, among others, all list Williams as the current favorite to win the 2023 Heisman Trophy. All three sportsbooks list Williams’ odds at +500 as of Monday afternoon.
Only one player has ever won multiple Heisman Trophies—Archie Griffin of Ohio State.
Jayden Daniels, Quinn Ewers in the Heisman Hunt
If any player is going to unseat Williams from his Heisman throne, sportsbooks seem to think it will be Jayden Daniels.
Daniels threw for 2,913 yards and 17 touchdowns in his first year starting for LSU. The Arizona State transfer also compiled 885 yards and 11 scores on the ground while leading the Tigers to 10 wins in their first year under head coach Brian Kelly. FanDuel, MGM, Caesars, PointsBet, and DraftKings all give Daniels the second-best odds of winning the Heisman Trophy this year.
Aside from Williams and Daniels, here are some of FanDuel’s other Heisman favorites:
- Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis (+1200)
- Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers (+1200)
- Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (+1400)
- Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (+1600)
- Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy (+1800)
- Oregon quarterback Bo Nix (+1800)
- North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye (+1800)
- Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman (+1800)
Penix Jr. and Maye finished eighth and 10th, respectively, in last season’s Heisman voting.
Non-QBs Who Could Be in the Heisman Race
One thing most players with the best Heisman odds have in common? They’re quarterbacks.
Since 2010, a QB has won the Heisman on 11 of 13 occasions. Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith (2020) and running back Derrick Henry (2015) are the exceptions.
Marvin Harrison Jr. (+3000) has the best Heisman odds of any non-quarterback this season, according to FanDuel. As a sophomore, the Ohio State wide receiver caught 77 passes for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Behind Harrison is a rival from Michigan—running back Blake Corum.
Corum finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting in 2022. He totaled 1,543 yards and 19 touchdowns from scrimmage as a junior and opted to return to the Wolverines for his senior season. FanDuel lists Corum’s odds to win the Heisman at +5000.
Georgia tight end Brock Bowers has the third-best odds to win the trophy of any player who won’t be lining up under center this season (+6000, per FanDuel). Bowers won national championships in both of his first two seasons with the Bulldogs. Last season as a sophomore, the 6-foot-4, 240-pounder caught 63 passes for 942 yards and seven touchdowns.
A tight end hasn’t won the Heisman Trophy since 1949.