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Breaking down where a pair of Buckeyes stand in the Heisman Race

It’s that time of the year where the great debate arises: who is the best player in college football? It might include a Buckeye (or two).

Maryland v Ohio State Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

We are at that point in the college football season where the race for the Heisman Trophy is seriously heating up. Buckeye Nation (including yours truly) made their prediction of C.J. Stroud winning the trophy before the season even started, and at this point, it is still very much a distinct possibility.

However, he is not the only However, the Buckeye quarterback is not the only Ohio State player who is a serious contender — TreVeyon Henderson, anyone? We are going to look at how both of the Buckeye currently stack up in the Heisman race, so let’s start by taking a deep dive into who has the best odds to win the Heisman as things stand right now.

Current Odds to Win the Heisman

Name School Passing Yards TDs Ints QBR Current Odds to Win
Name School Passing Yards TDs Ints QBR Current Odds to Win
Bryce Young Alabama 2,453 26 3 88.5 37/2
Matt Corral Ole Miss 1,913 15 1 87.1 25/1
C.J. Stroud Ohio State 1,965 22 3 91.7 (Best in FBS) 50/1
Kenny Pickett Pitt 2,236 23 1 88.1 100/1
vegasinsider.com

Okay, so clearly Bryce Young is the favorite right now, and for good reason. He is having a monster season and he has the stats to back it up. It is quite interesting, however, to see that Matt Corral has better odds than Stroud at the moment, despite the fact that the Ohio State quarterback has better numbers — with one entire less game played and not counting all of the second halves that he didn’t go in for. I would imagine that Corral is getting bonus points for playing in the SEC.

A sneaky contender that hasn’t made many headlines is Kenny Pickett from Pitt. His stats are pretty dang close to Bryce Young’s, so he will definitely be someone to keep an eye on moving forward.

If we take a look at last year’s Heisman quarterback finalists (remember, wide receiver DeVonta Smith won), you can see that the players with the best odds this year are definitely on pace to match, if not surpass Mac Jones, Trevor Lawrence and Kyle Trask.

2021 Heisman QB Finalists

Name School Passing Yards TDs Ints
Name School Passing Yards TDs Ints
Mac Jones Alabama 4,500 41 4
Trevor Lawrence Clemson 3,153 24 5
Kyle Trask Florida 4,283 43 8

Moving onto the running backs! This is certainly an interesting race to see which back (if any) could end up being a Heisman finalist, but also who could win the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best RB. Currently, Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III has the best numbers on paper, but you have to consider TreVeyon Henderson.

The Buckeye running back has about 300 less rushing yards than Walker, but, he also has 73 fewer attempts! Henderson also leads the FBS in yards per carry, with a whopping 8.8 yards. Therefore, if he had as many carries as Walker, he would already have 1,335 yards rushing, 338 more than the MSU back, and by far the most in the country.

So, while Henderson hasn’t gotten as many carries as the other running backs in contention, he has made the most of what carries he had had. Plus, with OSU now getting into the tougher part of their schedule, expect to see a lot more of Henderson.

Best Running Backs in the FBS

Name School Attempts Rushing Yards TDs Avg. Current Odds
Name School Attempts Rushing Yards TDs Avg. Current Odds
Kenneth Walker III Michigan St. 152 997 9 6.6 160/1
TreVeyon Henderson Ohio St. 79 693 11 8.8 250/1
Bijan Robinson Texas 146 924 10 6.3 400/1
Brian Robinson Alabama 142 706 11 5 660/1
vegasinsider.com

It is certainly a tight race already, and it’s just over the halfway point in the season. It is also something worth mentioning that Ohio State has two players in the top 10 (top eight, actually) currently favored to win the Heisman, something that no other school has. Let the great debate of who is the best college football player this season begin!


Poll

Who do you think will win the Heisman?

This poll is closed

  • 32%
    Bryce Young
    (41 votes)
  • 52%
    CJ Stroud
    (65 votes)
  • 1%
    Matt Corral
    (2 votes)
  • 8%
    TreVeyon Henderson
    (10 votes)
  • 5%
    Other
    (7 votes)
125 votes total Vote Now