Heisman Watch: Ranking the Top 5 Heisman Odds Candidates Heading into Week 6

Heisman Watch: Ranking the Top 5 Heisman Odds Candidates Heading into Week 6

Heisman Watch 2021 is officially in full swing. This year’s Heisman award, much like last year’s, is looking like it’s going to come down to the wire. There isn’t one player that has certified themselves as a run-away candidate yet.

Sure, we have guys like Matt Corral and Bryce Young atop the Heisman odds board. But, that could change in a matter of a week. Heck, this past week Young leapfrogged Corral just a week after the Ole Miss QB did the same to him.

Heisman odds are volatile. They change at the drop of a hat based on one or two massive performances. So, it’s time to take a look at the top five Heisman candidates, according to the latest Heisman odds.

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Heisman Watch: Top 5 Heisman Odds

1. Bryce Young – Alabama QB (+125)

Bryce Young has been the best player in college football to this point, but he hasn’t really done anything to run away with the award. Last week, in the team’s biggest game of the season against Ole Miss, he was good, not great. The real star of the game for Alabama was RB Brian Robinson Jr, rushing the ball 36 times for 171 yards and four TDs.

Bryce Young is the frontrunner to win the Heisman this year because he plays QB on the best team in the country. Are his numbers solid? Yes. Does he look good in his first year under center for the Tide? Absolutely. But, there are players across the country having far more impressive seasons than Young, who has thrown for 300+ yards just twice this season.

2. Matt Corral – Ole Miss QB (+250)

Matt Corral was a great early-season Heisman story. But, the loss to Alabama this past week basically killed any hope for him to surpass Bryce Young and win the award. I just don’t see how you can give the award to Corral, who has similar numbers to Young, when he lost the head-to-head matchup and won’t be competing for a national championship.

Corral has been fun to watch in the Lane Kiffin offense. He possesses a similar skillset to Young with the ability to beat the defense with his arm and legs, but He hasn’t put up big passing TD numbers to this point and is 38th in the country in passing yards with 1,210.

3. Desmond Ridder – Cincinnati QB (+2000)

Desmond Ridder, unlike Bryce Young and Matt Corral, has actually been a little disappointing this year. After last season’s unbelievable run by the Bearcats, Ridder was expected to come in and put up massive numbers in Cincinnati this season. HE has the team out to a 4-0 start and ranked No. 5 in the country, but he hasn’t exactly been filling up the stat sheet.

Ridder is still yet to throw for 300 yards in a game this season.  He’s thrown more than 2 TDs in just one game and the Bearcats have a whopping one Top-25 team left on their schedule in No. 24 SMU. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but Ridder is going to have to have some sort of second half if he expects to win the Heisman this year.

4. CJ Stroud – Ohio State QB (+2500)

If I was going to make a Heisman trophy bet right now on one of the top five candidates, CJ Stroud would be my pick to win the Heisman. I’m not betting on his performance to this point. He looked bad in the opener against Minnesota, lost to Oregon at home and even struggled a bit with Tulsa the next week. But, after taking a week off with an injury, he came out firing against a good Rutgers team.

Stroud, despite already having a loss under his belt this season, has games against Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan still on the schedule. If he lights those teams up and leads OSU to a Big 10 title and CFP berth, he will have as good of a claim to the Heisman Trophy as anyone in the entire country.

5. Spencer Rattler – Oklahoma QB (+3000)

Don’t get me started with Spencer Rattler. I haven’t been this disappointed by a player in a long time. Is it because I’ve bet him to win the Heisman the last two years? Perhaps. But, no matter where my disdain comes from the fact remains that he hasn’t been very good at any point over the past two seasons.

Rattler completes an insane 76.3% of his passes, but the problem has been when he tries to work the ball down the field. The Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts offenses under Lincoln Riley looked just like this. High-percentage throws with shot plays mixed in. The difference is Rattler hasn’t shown the ability to hit the shots and it’s made for a shaky start to the 2021 season.