Heisman Trophy Odds & Betting Favorites For 2026

The 2026 college football offseason is here. Week-to-week college football betting is on hiatus as the sports calendar begins its long march toward another fall football season. 

Fortunately, the futures market never goes away. The BetMGM online sportsbook has already priced up the 2026 college football national championship odds market. You can go take a look at those odds and establish some early futures positions if you like. 

Other markets, like the 2026 Heisman odds, have yet to be released. That should be rectified in the coming weeks as spring rosters begin to take shape. 

So while bettors are holding their breath in anticipation of the new Heisman odds table, here’s an early look at some of the names I expect could compete for the award this season.

Heisman Trophy Odds & Betting Favorites (2026)

Heisman Trophy 2026: Jeremiah Smith 

Ohio State’s uber-talented receiver just turned 20 and will return to Columbus for at least one more year, since he’s not yet eligible for the draft. 

Smith has had at least 1,200 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in each of his first two seasons at Ohio State. He quietly finished the 2025 season as the No. 1 most popular Heisman ticket at BetMGM and will surely attract major attention next year. With teammate Carnell Tate leaving for the draft, he could be in for a huge statistical season. 

Heisman Trophy 2026: Julian Sayin

Smith was the most popular name among BetMGM players, but Sayin was ultimately the Ohio State player who finished as a finalist for the award. 

There are two ways to look at Sayin’s candidacy ahead of 2026. One is that Sayin was great all year – perhaps even underappreciated, thanks to the effect Ohio State’s slow pace of play had on Sayin’s stats – and thus his sophomore season will be on track to reach even greater heights. That would make him an obvious Heisman candidate.

The more pessimistic look is that Sayin surged into Heisman relevancy as the quarterback of the undefeated reigning national champions. His stats were good, but he was blasted into outright favorite status on the back of an imbalanced Big Ten schedule. 

In hindsight, Sayin played few, if any, strong opponents. And as soon as Ohio State played top contenders in December, Sayin and the Buckeyes went 0-2. 

You can decide which argument sounds right to you. Either way, Sayin will almost certainly be an early Heisman target for many bettors. With Ohio State opening as the 2026 national championship favorite, it seems likely that Sayin will open as the Heisman favorite. 

Heisman Trophy 2026: Arch Manning

The Texas quarterback rode his famous last name to a dramatic early-season Heisman ticket share in 2025. But Manning and Texas never got past “good” in 2025, so some Heisman skepticism is warranted coming into 2026.

Manning will inevitably attract some attention this offseason, but it’s unlikely to get anywhere near the hype of last summer. 

Heisman Trophy 2026: Marcel Reed

Marcel Reed was live for the Heisman much later in 2025 than most bettors probably realize. He was +550 at BetMGM as late as Week 10. 

If market history is worth considering at all, there’s a good chance Reed will be mispriced this offseason, which will make him a strong candidate for a value bet. 

Heisman Trophy 2026: Gunner Stockton

Gunner Stockton will get some attention because he’s the quarterback of Kirby Smart’s Georgia team. He’s also a dual-threat quarterback, which puts him in a historically apt category for Heisman relevance.

But Stockton may ultimately be a better on-paper Heisman contender than anything else. Georgia isn’t the top-tier national contender it was three or four years ago, and its quarterbacks haven’t ever been anywhere close to the award over the last four years, despite several midrange prices. 

Heisman Trophy 2026: Jayden Maiava

Jayden Maiava led college football in QBR for much of the 2025 season. He’s a major returning quarterback who puts up big stats and plays for a legacy brand. 

Maiava is an obvious name to remember for the 2026 Heisman Trophy. The downside is that, because it’s so obvious, he’s likely to be overpriced.

Heisman Trophy 2026: Trinidad Chambliss

For now, Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has been ruled to be out of eligibility by the NCAA.

Watch the appeals, though. If Chambliss is allowed to play again next season, he’ll be immediately relevant in the Heisman market. It’s not out of the question to imagine him as an early market favorite.

Heisman Trophy 2026: CJ Carr

CJ Carr quietly played a very efficient season as a freshman in 2025. 

Because Notre Dame plays a more old-school offense, it’s unlikely that Carr will ever match the raw counting stats of a guy like Mestemaker. But if you agree with the early Notre Dame price in the national championship market, this could be a great supplemental bet at a fractional unit cost.

Heisman Trophy 2026: Josh Hoover

Josh Hoover has been quite good at TCU and is now entering the Curt Cignetti ecosystem at Indiana, which makes him automatically Heisman relevant as far as I’m concerned.

I’m much higher on Hoover as a player at the end of ‘25 than I was on Fernando Mendoza at the end of 2024. And look how that turned out!

Heisman Trophy 2026: Brendan Sorsby

I have been a big Brendan Sorsby fan ever since he was grinding out wins with pre-Cignetti Indiana. Now that he’s transferring to Texas Tech – a team that could be legitimately great in 2026 – Sorsby will be at his highest point of national relevance.

Sorsby fixes Texas Tech’s quarterback problem. (Sorry, Behren Morton.) If Tech’s defense is even remotely close to what it was last season, the Red Raiders could compete for the No. 1 overall seed in the playoff. 

As we saw in 2025, that can be a successful Heisman case, even at a nontraditional school.

Heisman Trophy 2026: Drew Mestemaker

The 2025 AAC Offensive Player of the Year is following head coach Eric Morris to Oklahoma State in 2026, where he should recreate his offensive success from Denton in a P4 uniform. 

Oklahoma State’s dreadful 2025 season should provide some major narrative award points if Mestemaker has the Cowboys in the hunt for a CFP berth next year. 

Heisman Trophy 2026: Malachi Toney

The Miami speedster will attract a lot of early Heisman attention after his performance in the 2025 College Football Playoff – especially the championship game. 

Heisman Trophy 2026: Bo Jackson

I already covered the two obvious names from Ohio State, but expect Bo Jackson to get some major Heisman love at some point over the next year for reasons that are probably self-evident.

Previous Heisman Trophy Winners