The Heisman Trophy race appears to have 4 entrants and everyone else starts in October

Strike the pose!

As week six of college football begins, we’re officially exiting the “small sample size” portion of the season and entering the phase where legitimate Heisman contenders stand out from the rest of the field.

This year’s race should be a pretty entertaining race, in part because we don’t have the typical “four best quarterbacks from the top ranked teams” race that we have had for many years. Instead, we have two quarterbacks, a running back from the Mountain West and a two-way player who may be one of the best athletes of this generation. That is fun! Right now these four guys have left the rest of the field behind them.

Stats: 964 passing yards, 10 TD, 1 INT, 72.9% completion, 273 rushing yards, 8 TD

After finishing sixth in Heisman voting last year, Milroe entered 2024 full steam ahead. A 491-yard performance against Georgia last weekend cemented the Alabama quarterback as the Heisman front-runner – he’s currently the betting favorite at + 200 at BetMGM.

If Alabama wins and Milroe continues to be so productive, it could be difficult to unseat him as the Heisman favorite. But with the Crimson Tide (Tennessee, Missouri, LSU) facing a gauntlet, a few Medicore games could knock Milroe out of the top spot here.

82 carries, 845 yards, 13 touchdowns, 10.3 YPC, 211.3 yards per game

The crazy thing about Jeanty is that he was a… Really He was a good running back last year (1,347 rushing yards) and has somehow still grown tenfold into the destructive running machine he is now.

Jeanty winning the Heisman would be a pretty big deal. He would be the first player on a current Group of Five team to win the Heisman since Roger Staubach won it for Navy in 1963, and he would be the first running back to win it since Derrick Henry in 2015, When the former Alabama prospect started, the back ran for 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns.

As crazy as it sounds, Jeanty could maybe slow down a bit and still win the prize. His 211.3 yards per game probably isn’t sustainable (although it would be cool), but if he can stay close to the 175-185 yards per game average, he’ll remain in the conversation all year long.

Stats: 1782 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 70.2% completion, 11.1 yards per attempt, 146 rushing yards, 2 touchdownsS

Cam Ward plays football like he’s auditioning for the role of quarterback in a college football movie, and that’s a compliment. The Miami QB is as cool as they come, and the firepower he brings – plus he leads the country in yards and touchdowns – has kept him at the top of the Heisman voting list all season.

As Miami continues to climb up the CFB rankings, Ward is right in the mix taking on Cal, a team that has given up a total of 51 points this season. If he can carve up the Golden Bears’ defense more than anyone else has done so far, that would be another addition to his Heisman resume.

Stats: 46 receptions, 561 yards, 6 touchdowns, 112.2 yards per game, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 3 passes defended

The ability to play both sides of the ball adequately deserves praise. But Hunter doesn’t play both sides appropriately – he plays both sides at the same time elite Level. As a receiver, he leads the Big 12 in receptions and touchdowns. As a cornerback, he has elite ball skills and has better ball control than most other cornerbacks in the country. As a basketball player, he’s apparently also evil.

Travis Hunter is in the unique situation where team success probably matters less because he’s not a quarterback. Still, Colorado’s winning streak certainly hasn’t hurt Hunter’s Heisman prospects, as his odds have risen to +450 at Bet MGM, second only to Milroe.

There’s a precedent for two-way players winning the Heisman – well, more like it Player. Charles Woodson took home the hardware in 1997, and no one since Woodson (or in the decades before him) has played both sides of the ball. Regardless of the odds, Hunter seems likely to win the award as he will likely have to put up eye-popping numbers on both offense and defense; something he is capable of, as we have seen, but something that represents a tall order anyone over an entire season.