The Heisman Trophy is nominally awarded to the best player in college football, but it is akin to the NFL MVP award these days. These awards are typically just given to the best quarterback as the passing game draws the eyeballs and the accolades. Since Ron Dayne won the 1999 Heisman Trophy, 19 of the last 23 winners of this award have been quarterbacks.

That’s why the top 11 players with the shortest odds to win the Heisman Trophy are all quarterbacks. Caleb Williams is the logical favorite at +500 after winning the award last year, and you don’t find a non-quarterback on the list until you get to Marvin Harrison Jr. at 30-1. Blake Corum is the only other non-quarterback with odds of less than 50-1 to earn this honor, so keep quarterbacks in mind when betting Heisman Trophy futures. However, given the fact that we have had four non-quarterbacks win the award since 2000 means that you could hit it big by finding the right running back or wide receiver.

Heisman Trophy Odds at BetRivers

Caleb Williams +500
Jayden Daniels +1100
Quinn Ewers +1100
Jordan Travis +1700
Michael Penix Jr. +1700
Carson Beck +1700
Cade Klubnik +1700
Bo Nix +2000
J.J. McCarthy +2000
Drake Maye +2500
Sam Hartman +2500
Marvin Harrison Jr. +3000
Joe Milton +3000
Blake Corum +3500
Kyle McCord +3500
Drew Allar +4000
All Other Teams are +5000 or More

Just as I did with the national championship odds, I want to start by crossing off certain players. It’s hard to imagine Carson Beck winning the Heisman Trophy given Georgia has won the last two national titles, and he will not be given the chance to put up big numbers. Joe Milton is too inconsistent as a passer, and there is a pretty good chance that Kyle McCord isn’t the starting quarterback for Ohio State by the end of the season.

Caleb Williams is probably going to put up gaudy numbers once again in Lincoln Riley’s offense, and USC has a very manageable schedule. However, it’s hard to back Williams at 5-1 to win the Heisman Trophy since we have only seen one player win this award in back-to-back seasons. He will have to be markedly better than every other quarterback, and USC will probably need to make the College Football Playoff.

Many pundits predicted LSU to finish near the bottom of the standings in the SEC West last season. Brian Kelly came in from Notre Dame and a significant number of players left the program, seemingly spelling doom for the Bayou Bengals. However, Jayden Daniels’ dual-threat ability helped the Tigers win 10 games, and he is one of the top contenders for the Heisman Trophy in his second year in Kelly’s offense. Daniels is an exceptional runner that picked up 885 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground last season, but he isn’t going to put up big numbers through the air. That makes him a pass at 11-1.

Quinn Ewers is a stayaway for me too at 11-1. Ewers was a very highly touted recruit coming out of high school, but he wasn’t able to be the starter at Ohio State. He transferred to Texas and showed some flashes last season, but he also had accuracy issues and completed just 58.1% of his passes. His pass protection was elite last season, yet he wasn’t able to take the most advantage of it and isn’t a strong runner.

My favorite bet to win the Heisman Trophy is a non-quarterback. The odds on Blake Corum to win this honor should not be as high as 35-1. Corum ran for 1,463 yards (5.9 YPC) and 18 touchdowns last season, and he will have arguably the best offensive line in the country blocking for him. All five of Michigan’s starting offensive linemen are either seniors or grad students, so there is a ton of experience up front.

Cade Klubnik and Sam Hartman might be worth small wagers to win the Heisman Trophy. Klubnik could get a huge boost at Clemson as the Tigers brought in highly respected offensive coordinator Garrett Riley to kickstart an offense that has been moribund. As for Hartman, he could post some big numbers at Notre Dame due to his dual-threat ability.