The Heisman Trophy race appears wide open this season.
The top five players in last year’s Heisman voting, won by LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, and eight of the top 10 are currently in NFL training camps.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is the only player among 2023’s top-10 vote-getters to appear on a long list of players with Heisman odds by Bet MGM.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Georgia’s Carson Beck lead that list. Gabriel would add a new twist to the recent trend of transfer quarterbacks winning the Heisman (five of the last seven): After stints at Oklahoma and UCF, he would be the first two-time transfer to win the award.
Beck would be a true anomaly for this current era of college football if he wins the Heisman: A fifth-year senior who has never switched schools.
There is also a group of former five-star, first-year starting quarterbacks in Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava, Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold and Kansas State’s Avery Johnson who could vault to the top of the class the way Alabama’s Bryce Young did in 2021.
There is an entire season ahead but some predictions on how the awards season might go:
Heisman Trophy (most outstanding player)
Finalists: Carson Beck, QB, Georgia; Jaxson Dart, QB, Mississippi; Will Howard, QB, Ohio State; Avery Johnson, QB, Kansas State.
And the winner is … Johnson. The expanded 12-team playoff should open the door to even more players being labeled Heisman contenders late in the season. Will SEC and Big Ten players get an extra boost by schedules that have potential to create even more big-stage games? If so, it will be even harder for players such as Johnson to break through, but his upside is massive and blonde flowing hair makes him hard to miss.
Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player of the year)
Finalists: Rueben Bain, DE, Miami; Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State; James Pearce, DE, Tennessee.
And the winner is … Bain. The second-year pass rusher cojures up memories of Jadeveon Clowney at South Carolina and has the tools to be the first player selected in the 2026 NFL draft.
Outland Trophy (best interior lineman)
Finalists: Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas; Will Campbell, OT, LSU; Mason Graham, DT, Michigan.
And the winner is … Campbell, who then goes on to become the first offensive tackle selected in the draft.
Doak Walker Award (best running back)
Finalists: Ashton Jeanty, Boise State; Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State; Jaydn Ott, California.
And the winner is … Jeanty, who becomes the first Doak winner to come from outside a power conference since BYU’s Luke Staley in 2001.
Biletnikoff Award (best receiver)
Finalists: Luther Burden III, Missouri; Jayden Higgins, Iowa State; Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona.
And the winner is … Burden, who has said he wants to win the Heisman but will have to settle for this.
Jim Thorpe Award (best defensive back)
Finalists: Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State; Will Johnson, CB, Michigan; Benjamin Morrison, CB, Notre Dame.
And the winner is … Downs, the Alabama transfer who stands out on a loaded Buckeyes’ defense.
Extra points
Butkus Award (best linebacker): Barrett Carter, Clemson.
Mackey Award (best tight end): Luke Lachey, Iowa.
Groza Award (best kicker): Bert Auburn, Texas.
Ray Guy (best punter): Alex Mastromanno, Florida State.
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP
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