John Korduner/Icon Sportswire
Author: Anthony Vlahovic
Last Updated: 10 November, 2025
Quarterbacks have dominated Heisman Trophy voting for quite some time, but with his impressive season on both sides of the ball, Travis Hunter became the first non-QB to win the award since DeVonta Smith in 2020 and just the second non-QB or RB since 1997.
While guys like Jeremiah Smith and Jeremiyah Love still have a very slight chance to keep the award away from quarterbacks, guys like Fernando Mendoza, Julian Sayin, and Ty Simpson are making that quite difficult. Now that the season is officially through 11 weeks, fans can stay up to date on all odds movement from the top sportsbooks throughout the entire campaign.
Player | Opening Odds | Current Best Odds |
|---|---|---|
Julian Sayin | +1800 | +180 (DraftKings) |
Fernando Mendoza | +5500 | +190 (Ceasars) |
Ty Simpson | +5500 | +500 (FanDuel) |
Marcel Reed | +4000 | +850 (FanDuel) |
Diego Pavia | +12,500 | +2500 (Caesars) |
Jeremiah Smith | +1700 | +3000 (FanDuel) |
Gunner Stockton | +3300 | +3000 (Caesars*) |
Jeremiyah Love | +5000 | +3500 (FanDuel) |
Trinidad Chambliss | N/A | +10,000 (FanDuel) |
Haynes King | +9000 | +10,000 (FanDuel) |
Miller Moss | +3500 | +15,000 (Caesars) |
CJ Carr | N/A | +20,000 (FanDuel) |
Jayden Maiava | +6000 | +20,000 (FanDuel) |
John Mateer | +2500 | +20,000 (Caesars) |
Brendan Sorsby | +35000 | +30,000 (DraftKings) |
Dante Moore | +2000 | +40,000 (FanDuel) |
Odds as of November 10, 2025
* = the same odds are offered by multiple sportsbooks.
Player | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Julian Sayin | +165 | +180 | +170 |
Fernando Mendoza | +165 | +185 | +190 |
Ty Simpson | +500 | +390 | +350 |
Marcel Reed | +850 | +700 | +800 |
Diego Pavia | +2000 | +2000 | +2500 |
Gunner Stockton | +3000 | +2500 | +3000 |
Jeremiah Smith | +3000 | +2500 | +2500 |
Jeremiyah Love | +3500 | +3000 | +2800 |
Trinidad Chambliss | +10,000 | +7000 | +7000 |
Haynes King | +10,000 | +6000 | +6000 |
*Odds as of November 10, 2025
Julian Sayin: After winning the National Championship last season, the Ohio State Buckeyes handed the keys to their offense over to redshirt freshman Julian Sayin. Well, even with sky-high expectations entering the year, Sayin has somehow exceeded all of them up to this point. With arguably the best receiving corps in the country to throw to, Sayin has put up 2,491 yards and 24 touchdowns on an 80.9% completion percentage. In his last three games alone, Sayin has thrown nine touchdown passes and exceeded the 300-yard marker in each of them.
Fernando Mendoza: Picking up ranked wins has become a commonality for the Indiana Hoosiers, and the play of Fernando Mendoza is a big reason why. After leading a highly impressive game-winning drive against Penn State to keep the Hoosiers undefeated, the Cal transfer has now thrown for 2,342 yards and 26 touchdowns, which is tied for the most in the country.
Ty Simpson: The Crimson Tide's season and Ty Simpson's career as a starter did not get off to a strong start with a loss to FSU. However, since that game, Simpson has settled in and has been running the offense at an elite level. In a big win over LSU, Simpson put up 277 yards and one touchdown, which means he will head into a matchup against Oklahoma with 2,461 yards, 21 touchdowns, and just one interception.
Season | Player (Position, School) | Opening odds | Mid-season odds |
|---|---|---|---|
2024 | Travis Hunter (WR/CB, Colorado) | +6500 | +650 |
2023 | Jayden Daniels (QB, LSU) | +1700 | +1300 |
2022 | Caleb Williams (QB, USC) | +800 | +700 |
2021 | Bryce Young (QB, Alabama) | +900 | +150 |
2020 | DeVonta Smith (WR, Alabama) | +10000 | +5000 |
2019 | Joe Burrow (QB, LSU) | +20000 | +300 |
2018 | Kyler Murray (QB, Oklahoma) | +2000 | +250 |
2017 | Baker Mayfield (QB, Oklahoma) | +700 | +700 |
2016 | Lamar Jackson (QB, Louisville) | +10000 | -200 |
2015 | Derrick Henry (RB, Alabama) | +2500 | +1615 |
2014 | Marcus Mariota (QB, Oregon) | +500 | +250 |
For some players, a Heisman campaign does not start during a season; it starts the year before. Late-game heroes and a strong bowl game can kick-start a Heisman campaign for the following season, allowing media outlets to run with the story and generate a lot of hype for a player who hasn’t quite put it all together yet.
Sometimes players do end up living up to the expectations. However, for every player like that, five other players garnered a lot of media attention for the award over the summer and during non-conference play, only to collapse during conference play and not even be mentioned during award conversations by Week 7 or 8.
Take a player like Kenny Hill from Texas A&M back in 2014. Hill was taking over for Johnny Manziel, and after starting the season with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions, he had the third-best odds on the board at (+700). Between the hype and numbers, Hill was garnering more attention at that point than eventual winner Marcus Mariota.
Hill took that hype into SEC conference play, though, and after posting a 6:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio from week six to eight, he faded into the background and was benched. This example illustrates how savvy bettors can capitalize on markets and inflation driven by hype.
Travis Hunter became the first two-way player to win the Heisman in the award's history.
The Heisman winner has come from the SEC in four of the last six seasons.
Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston are the only freshmen to ever win the Heisman trophy.
Archie Griffin is the only player to have won the Heisman Trophy twice, accomplishing this feat in 1974 and 1975.
Jayden Daniels, who won the 2023 Heisman, did not become the favorite to win the award until December 2nd of that season.
DeVonta Smith was the first non-QB or RB to win the award since Charles Woodson in 1997.
Since 2018, the pre-season favorite to win the Heisman has not actually won the award.




