Each week this college football season, BetFTW will take a look at the 2023 Heisman Trophy race and break down the contenders. Check back every Tuesday as the best college football players in the country jockey for position with both oddsmakers and bettors. All odds via BetMGM. Past weeks here: Preseason, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12, Week 13.
All Jayden Daniels can do is wait now.
The LSU quarterback — and the team’s marching band — made a final statement in Week 13 against Texas A&M, but while every other remaining contender for the Heisman Trophy will play in a a conference title game this weekend, Daniels will have to hope he’s already done enough.
Here’s what the oddsmakers have to say about it.
5. Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy, Michigan RB Blake Corum (+25000)
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Odds Last Week:
- J.J. McCarthy (No Change)
- Blake Corum (No Change)
Corum absolutely delivered against Ohio State with 88 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries in an expectedly brutal game. McCarthy, meanwhile, posted 148 yards and one touchdown on 16-for-20 passing.
If they put up similar numbers against a much tougher Iowa defense, it should be considered a huge win. But it probably won’t impress oddsmakers or voters too much at this point.
4. Georgia QB Carson Beck, Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Alabama QB Jalen Milroe (+15000)
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Odds Last Week:
- Jalen Milroe (+12500)
- Carson Beck (+3300)
- Marvin Harrison Jr. (+3000)
Marvin Harrison Jr. had his toughness questioned after losing to Michigan. It was pretty much the opposite of a Heisman moment during a rough weekend for the Buckeyes.
Milroe, meanwhile, already produced his big Heisman moment thanks to an unreal game-winning touchdown in the Iron Bowl against Auburn. And even he knows it. A win against Beck’s Bulldogs this weekend may be the only thing standing between Milroe and an invitation to New York.
3. Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. (+1600)
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Odds Last Week: +600
While Penix holds the third-best odds to win the Heisman, these are also the longest odds for Penix this season. You’d have to go back to Week 1, when Penix was +1400, to come close to his current price.
It’s hard to believe, but yes, this is officially “buy the dip” territory during Championship Week. A big game against Oregon for the Pac-12 title and Penix can recapture the narrative and lock in a number of votes.
2. LSU QB Jayden Daniels (+140)
Matthew Dobbins-USA TODAY Sports
Odds Last Week: -130
Daniels’ season has been nothing short of outrageous — 4,946 total yards, 50 total touchdowns and four interceptions — LSU’s season, however, has been a disappointment.
No playoff hope. SEC title game. No significant bowl game to look forward to.
Daniels’ Heisman campaign is really all the Tigers have left and he no longer controls his own destiny there. Surely he deserves the votes. The only question is whether or not the players with an extra game this week do enough to leapfrog him.
1. Oregon QB Bo Nix (-185)
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Odds Last Week: +140
An Oregon win this week makes it nearly impossible to imagine anyone else winning the Heisman this year.
Full Live Odds
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
