As hard as it is to believe, we're essentially at the midway point of the college football season, as after this week, many teams will have played half of their regular season schedule.
So with it, it feels like a great time to catch up on the Heisman race.
Betfred Sportsbook recently updated its Heisman odds. Here are the best bets and the stay aways, as we reach the mid-way point of the college football season.
CJ Stroud (+160): Stroud was the favorite to win the Heisman before the season started, and he’s taken that ball and ran with it to start the year. Through the first five games of the year Stroud has 1,376 passing yards and has 18 touchdowns to just two interceptions. On top of that, he has a 68.7% completion percentage on the year too. His best game was against Toledo where he threw for 367 yards and five touchdowns. It would be dumb of me to not mention Stroud because he is easily the odds-on favorite, and even though he’s the favorite right now the odds have a chance to change as well. He still holds this spot too even after a lackluster week because Ohio State still won soundly and no one else behind him really did anything to gain ground on him. The Ohio State schedule does pick up a bit, so it will be interesting to see where he’s at when it does. He’s the closest thing to a sure thing here.
Caleb Williams (+500): Caleb Williams has thrived after reuniting with Lincoln Riley at USC. To start the year, he’s passed for 1,402 yards and 12 touchdowns to just one interception. He also has a 67% completion percentage. His best game was against Stanford where he threw for 341 yards and had four touchdown passes too. Williams was the biggest transfer portal get and the Trojans won the lottery by getting him. Having Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley reunite has done wonders for the Trojans and is why they are in the College Football Playoff discussion up to this point. He torched Arizona State in his last game after having a lackluster performance the week before against Oregon State. The schedule picks up a bit so it will be interesting to see how he does. He’s not necessarily on CJ Stroud’s level, but he’s gaining ground.
Bryce Young (+800): Last year’s winner has started off the year incredibly strong. He has 1,202 passing yards while also having 14 passing touchdowns to just three interceptions. He also has a 67% completion percentage on the year too. His best game was against Vanderbilt where he threw for 385 passing yards and four touchdowns. Young is still in this race, but the odds are getting more and more stacked against him. He injured his shoulder last game that could keep him out for potentially one game. He also has a few players gaining on him in this spot too. On top of that too, he won it last year, and the players that win it once, and come back usually don’t have fare well in winning it against, outside of Archie Griffin. The SEC schedule is usually a gauntlet so expect Young to either fall or rise because of it.
Hendon Hooker (+1400): Hendon Hooker has shot up the Heisman rankings based on how Tennessee’s done up to this point in the season. He is the main engine behind the high-powered Volunteer offense. He has 1,193 passing yards and eight touchdown passes to zero interceptions. He also has a completion percentage of 71.7%. His best game was against Florida where he threw for 349 passing yards and two touchdown passes. Hooker is in a high-powered offense that’s capable of scoring the ball almost at will. He has a chance to potentially jump up in this race a lot if Tennessee keeps winning, and he keeps standing out in bigger games. The biggest being in two weeks against Alabama. The gauntlet has already started for the Vols, and if Hooker keeps it up his name is going continue to be as hot as it’s been.
Overvalued/Stay Away
Blake Corum (+1800): I understand why Blake Corum has shot up the Heisman odds, but still these odds are too high. He’s racked up a lot of yards and stats based on Michigan’s easy schedule up to this point. His stats are admittedly very impressive with 93 carries, 611 rushing yards, and 10 touchdowns, but the competition just hasn’t been there. The Wolverines have a few land mines in Big Ten play coming up, but they also just passed a big one last week against Iowa where he looked good still. Still, stay away from Corum’s odds here, the stats seem over-inflated even if they are very impressive.
Stetson Bennett IV (+1800): Stetson Bennett even being in this conversation is amazing considering what it took for him to get the starting quarterback position at Georgia overall. However, to say Bennett should be considered a Heisman favorite seems to be a bit much. His stats are admittedly also impressive with 1,536 passing yards and five touchdowns to just one interception. He also has a 69.5% completion percentage. The difference is that Georgia as a team is just very impressive, with talent being there across the board. It almost feels like Bennett is just one piece to the puzzle still and is not the biggest reason why Georgia is winning games as compared to the four players named above. The issue too, is that the stats are going to keep getting more impressive for the players above him and below him, whereas Bennett’s main job seems to be to just steer the ship, which he does very well.
And remember, Betfred has a great deal for first-time users heading into another college football Saturday - bet $50 on any game, get $250 in free bets courtesy of Betfred. It's the best deal going - so act now!
Follow Jake on Twitter - @Jake_Faigus
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