The Heisman Trophy race is back on! The prestigious award, which once looked like Leonard Fournette’s to lose, is now very much up for grabs as the likes of Derrick Henry and Deshaun Watson have gained ground by leading their respective national championship contender schools to huge wins.
Let’s take a look at a somewhat rejiggered top five Heisman candidates to see what they were up to last week, how that affected their odds, and what their outlook is going forward.
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[sc:NCAAFArticles ]Top Five Heisman Trophy Hopefuls
Leonard Fournette, Running Back (LSU)
[sc:NCAA240banner ]The Leo Fournette hype train was derailed by arguably the only team in the nation that could derail it: Alabama. The Heisman front-runner was absolutely muzzled, and if it weren’t for a meaningless 18-yard fourth quarter touchdown, would’ve ended the game with a measly 13 yards on 18 carries.
Fournette is still the favorite for the award, but with his price rising all the way up to +140, he’s no shoo-in anymore. He’s got three more games to reestablish himself as the best, though, and judging from his performances in seven games against non-Alabama opposition, don’t put it beyond him to do just that.
Derrick Henry, Running Back (Alabama)
Who would’ve thought that Derrick Henry would run for almost seven times as many rushing yards as Leonard Fournette when they went head-to-head? The junior running back has now overtaken Fournette in terms of rushing yards per game (159.8) in conference play, and has pulled even in touchdowns (10).
With another marquee performance to add to his resume and games against Mississippi State, Charleston Southern and Auburn to pad his stats, Henry is now down to +180 to win the Heisman, and rightly so. The kid’s got a real shot.
Ezekiel Elliott, Running Back (Ohio State)
As other top contenders like Trevone Boykin and Seth Russell fall off, Ezekiel Elliott just keeps hanging around. Elliott’s Heisman odds have now dropped to +500 after the Big 12 quarterbacks exited the race.
It hasn’t been a particularly spectacular season for the Buckeyes running back, but he just keeps putting up the numbers to help his team remain undefeated. With the offense struggling due to J.T. Barrett’s suspension, Elliott led the way with 114 rushing yards and a touchdown in Ohio State’s 28-14 win over Minnesota.
Elliott still has Michigan State, Michigan and possibly the Big Ten championship game to strengthen his case a la Henry, though, so don’t count him out yet.
Deshaun Watson, Quarterback (Clemson)
Speaking of Boykin and Russell exiting the Heisman race, that leaves Clemson’s Deshaun Watson as the last quarterback standing. Watson added yet another feather to his Heisman cap with nearly 400 total yards of offense in his game-winning performance against Florida State.
Clemson is now the No. 1 team in the country, and is increasingly looking like a lock for the College Football Playoff. That’s why it’s probably wise to take Watson now at +600 before the bandwagon fills up and his odds shrink even more in the coming weeks.
Corey Coleman, Wide Receiver (Baylor)
With Russell out of the picture at Baylor, wide receiver Corey Coleman has now taken up the mantle as the team’s premier Heisman candidate. The junior, who leads the nation with 20 receiving touchdown, is on course for a record-breaking season. He’s just five touchdowns shy of the Big 12 record of 25 receiving touchdowns and seven shy of the FBS record, with at least four more games to break both.
Taking Coleman is a massive gamble, especially since the last wide receiver to win the award was Desmond Howard way back in 1991. But if he can go on and set a new receiving touchdown mark – which is definitely within the realm of possibility at this point – Coleman’s +800 odds have a real chance of paying off.
Create a betting account now and cash in on some college football action with the help of these top Heisman hopefuls.
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