Heisman Watch: Taking stock of the race halfway through the season

At the middle of the season, there are four clear favorites for the Heisman Trophy.

All-World running back Ashton Jeanty – our midseason Heisman pick – is the +200 favorite at BetMGM. He is followed by Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel at +350 and Miami QB Cam Ward and Colorado DB/WR Travis Hunter at +650.

The No. 5 favorite, Alabama QB Jalen Milroe, is at the back at +1300.

Jeanty has been unstoppable so far this season. His 1,248 rushing yards are 311 yards more than anyone in college football. He leads the country with 17 rushing touchdowns and averages an absurd 9.9 yards per carry.

Gabriel led Oregon to a big win over Ohio State in Week 7. He threw for 341 yards and two interceptions and also rushed for a 27-yard TD. With Florida’s Graham Mertz out for the season, Gabriel leads the league in active completion percentage at 76.1% this season.

Ward leads all QBs who have played six games with 2,219 passing yards and tops the list in passing TDs with 20. The former Washington State QB was instrumental in Miami’s turnaround after a disappointing 2023 season.

Hunter is Colorado’s leading receiver and top corner. He plays almost every offensive and defensive snap and appeared to avoid a serious injury against Kansas State. Against the Wildcats, he apparently suffered a right shoulder injury and missed the second half. But coach Deion Sanders said Tuesday that Hunter would play Saturday against Arizona.

Milroe enters Saturday’s Alabama game leading the country in yards per pass (11.2). He is tied with Ward and Texas State’s Jordan McCloud with 23 total touchdowns. Milroe is also Alabama’s leading rusher.

However, there is no guarantee that the Heisman race will be down to these five players. With conference races taking place over the next seven weekends, there are plenty of opportunities for a player outside of this bracket to make a Heisman declaration. Just look at last season.

In 2023, eventual Heisman winner Jayden Daniels was +3000 to win the Heisman after Week 7. Daniels continued to post video game statistics to win the award even though LSU finished the regular season 9-3.

Two years ago, Ohio State’s CJ Stroud was the overwhelming favorite at the halfway point of the season. His chances were much better than Jeanty’s. Stroud was -110 to win the prize. Eventual winner Caleb Williams was +700.

It’s easy to imagine some players outside the top five making a push in the second half too. Carson Beck of Georgia (+1500) and Quinn Ewers of Texas (+2000) will be on the same field Saturday night in the biggest game of the weekend. If one of the QBs makes a big play during a win, they move up in the rankings.

Clemson QB Cade Klubnik (+1600) continues to discount the ugly Week 1 loss to Georgia. Klubnik has thrown for 1,528 yards and 17 touchdowns with just two interceptions so far this season. He also scored four touchdowns as Clemson’s offense really took off.

LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier (+3000) threw the game-winning TD pass in the Tigers’ Week 7 OT win over Ole Miss and showed he is a very worthy successor to Daniels. If he continues to split up opposing SEC defenses and LSU advances to the conference title game, LSU could have back-to-back Heisman winners.

And don’t completely rule out a player like Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke (+5000) either. Yes, he’s far from it, but the Hoosiers are 6-0 and Rourke has been excellent. The former Ohio QB has completed nearly 74% of his passes for nearly 11 yards per throw so far this season.

Midseason Heisman favorites

• Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty (+200)

• Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel (+350)

• Miami QB Cam Ward (+650)

• Colorado DB/WR Travis Hunter (+650)

• Alabama QB Jalen Milroe (+1300)

• Georgia QB Carson Beck (+1500)

• Clemson QB Cade Klubnik (+1600)

• Texas QB Quinn Ewers (+2000)

• LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier (+3000)

• Penn State QB Drew Allar (+3000)

• Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart (+4000)

• Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke (+5000)

• Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders (+5000)