Each season in college football the Heisman Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding player. With the start of a new season of less than two months away, the following is a look at futures odds for a few of the top players competing to win this highly coveted award.
Heisman Trophy 2017 Futures Odds
The quarterback position has dominated this award since its inception and going back to the 2000 season the Heisman Trophy has gone to a quarterback 14 times in the past 16 years. BetOnline’s futures odds for winning the 2017 Heisman is top heavy with signal callers, which makes finding the one with the best value on the board a daunting task.
Top Favorite
The name at the top of the list for the current Heisman odds is USC quarterback Sam Darnold at +425. He broke onto the scene as a freshman with the Trojans in 2016 and proceeded to throw for 3,086 yards and 31 touchdowns while completing 67.2 percent of his 366 passing attempts. USC is favored to win the Pac-12 this season and its betting odds to win a national title have been set at +750 along with Ohio State as second-favorites behind Alabama. Darnold will have plenty of chances to wow the voters, but the fact that he is just a sophomore could work against him unless he is absolutely spectacular.
Top Contenders
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson has been opened as a +750 second-favorite to win this year’s Heisman. You would think that Jackson has the big inside edge for this season’s competition considering that he finished first in the voting to claim last year’s award. That may not be the case since you would have to go all the way back to 1975 to find the last time a player won back-to-back Heisman’s (Ohio State running back Archie Griffin). Jackson could put up some Heisman-like numbers in 2017 after throwing for 3,543 yards and 30 touchdowns in his first winning campaign while adding another 1,571 yards and 21 scores on the ground. However, the value in his odds just is not there considering how hard it is to win this coveted award twice.
Also opened at +750 betting odds is Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. He finished third in the voting last season, which does add some serious value to these odds considering the progression of his college football career heading into his senior year. He has the experience and the reputation that already resonates with the people that vote for this award, so if the Sooners can live up to the high expectations that has them listed as heavy -135 favorites to win the Big 12 (+1000 odds to win a national title), Mayfield could be in perfect position to win the Heisman this time around. The impact of Bob Stoops stepping down as the team’s long-time head coach remains to be seen, but it is still something to keep in the back of your mind.
The betting odds for a few of the other top Heisman contenders include Ohio State quarterback JT Barrett and Penn State running back Saquon Barkley at +1000 followed by Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois at +1200.
Top Longshot
Jackson came out of nowhere to win last year’s Heisman and my top longshot on this year’s future’s list would be South Florida’s Quinton Flowers. When the opening odds to win the 2017 Heisman were first released he was not even on the board at BetOnline, but his most recent odds have jumped to +2000 with a bullet. The Bulls’ quarterback threw for 2,812 yards and 24 touchdowns as a junior last season while also leading the team in rushing with 1,530 yards and 18 touchdowns for an average of 7.7 yards a carry. Playing in the AAC for a Mid Major program does sap a bit of value in his betting odds, but this conference continues to gain respect as one of the most competitive ones in the nation. South Florida went 11-2 last season and if it can repeat that kind of run again in 2017, Flowers is bound to get some attention from the Heisman voters.
2017 Heisman Futures Odds List
- Sam Darnold (USC) +425
- Lamar Jackson (Louisville) +750
- Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma) +750
- JT Barrett (Ohio State) +1000
- Deondre Francois (Florida State) +1200
- Trace McSorley (Penn State) +2000
- Bo Scarbrough (Alabama) +1400
- Jake Browning (Washington) +1600
- Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State) +2500
- Saquon Barkley (Penn State) +900
- Jalen Hurts (Alabama) +1600
- Josh Rosen (UCLA) +2500
- Derrius Guice (LSU) +1400
- Nick Chubb (Georgia) +2500
- Kamryn Pettway (Auburn) +2800
- Nick Fitzgerald (Mississippi State) +5000
- Luke Falk (Washington State) +3300
- Shane Buechele (Texas) +3300
- Calvin Ridley (Alabama) +8000
- Ed Oliver (Houston) +6600
- Quinton Flowers (South Florida) +1600
- Brandon Wimbush (Notre Dame) +5000
- Justin Herbert (Oregon) +6600
- Ty Johnson (Maryland) +6600
- Sewo Olonilua (TCU) +6600
