The 2020 college football season is underway and Heisman favorites are establishing themselves.
Trevor Lawrence (-110) leads the way at FanDuel Sportsbook and is followed by Justin Fields (+250) and Mac Jones (+500). The crew of three quarterbacks are beginning to distance themselves from the pack with some impressive wins. When the Big Ten begins its season this week, Fields will no longer be a bystander.
Below are odds for which player will win the 2020 Heisman Trophy.
Heisman odds 2020
Trevor Lawrence remains atop the odds table after continuing to blow out conference opponents. His status as the nation’s best quarterback and future top draft pick remains untouched.
Ohio State’s Justin Fields sits second at most books after coming out on fire in his opening game. Fields went 20/21 with his only incompletion being a drop in which receiver Chris Olave was injured on. Fields looked accurate, decisive, and– most notably– fast. Fields attributes a body transformation and increased athleticism to an all-veggie diet. After one week, it seems to have worked.
Alabama signal-caller Mac Jones is breaking Alabama passing records left, right, and center. He’s off to a hot start thanks to his triad of All American-level receivers in Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, and John Metchie III. He’s also had the help of having the nation’s leading rushing touchdown scorer (Najee Harris, 11) and a defense that’s required Jones to throw often. His performance against Georgia (417 yards, four touchdowns, 75% completion) helped his campaign greatly.
The crop after these three drops significantly, with names like Michigan’s Joe Milton, Alabama’s Najee Harris, and BYU’s Zach Wilson follow suit around +3000. Fields, Lawrence, and Jones are distancing themselves from the group, although no one is really out of the race yet.
All player markets currently offered – outside of Lawrence – are at plus-money in terms of odds. This means bettors correctly selecting the eventual award winner at plus-money will make several times their original wager. In 2016, Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson won the Heisman Trophy and opened at odds near +10000. The last three years have seen Baker Mayfield (+700 in 2017) win the Heisman, followed by Kyler Murray (+2200 in 2018) and then Joe Burrow, who opened as high as +20000 before running away with the award in 2019.
Quarterbacks have won nine of the last 10 Heisman Trophy awards. In fact, since 2000, only two non-quarterbacks have won the Heisman Trophy: Derrick Henry (2015) and Mark Ingram (2009) — both Alabama running backs.
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How to bet Heisman Trophy futures
By their very nature, odds on futures wagers are subject to varying degree of fluctuation. In the case of player-level futures like the Heisman Trophy, a number of different factors can influence the trajectory of his futures odds as the games unfold week to week. That includes not only performance, results and stats, but also injuries.
Take the example of the 2019 pre-season pacesetter at both FanDuel and DraftKings sportsbooks — Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The sophomore took a lot of money and his odds dropped all the way to +200 at FanDuel and +175 on DraftKings at one point in 2019. Clemson was projected to be at least a 13-point favorite in all regular-season games, and bettors believed Lawrence would lead the Tigers offense to even greater heights after capturing the National Championship in 2018 while averaging 44.3 points per game.
Lawrence fell out of the 2019 race early, though, and his odds to win plummeted. He ultimately finished seventh in the voting as Joe Burrow grabbed the coveted Trophy.
How is the Heisman Trophy winner decided?
A total of 870 media members (sports journalists mostly covering college football) from six regions along with 59 former Heisman winners vote on the award. Voters can select three players on their ballot. A first place vote allots 3 points to the player selected, second place gets 2 points and third place gets 1 point.
The Heisman and the AP Player of the Year honor the most outstanding player. The award is given for outstanding performance which best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work. Since 2002, the award has been presented by the Heisman Trophy trust, and was first presented in 1935 by the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City.
Over the last 20 years, just two Heisman winners have played on teams that won fewer than 10 games – Florida’s Tim Tebow in 2007 and Louisville’s Lamar Jackson in 2016. But those two teams each won 9 games. So narrow your list to the projected top teams and review the schedules and players likelihood to put up strong stats with outstanding performances.
Where can you bet on college football futures?
The Heisman Trophy futures markets are available at all legal, regulated sportsbooks. Heisman futures are located behind the college football tab in online sportsbook platforms, under a specific Futures tab. Players are listed along with their corresponding odds at that point in time.
