2017 Heisman Trophy Odds and Predictions

2017 Heisman Trophy Odds and Predictions

The biggest individual prize in college football the Heisman trophy, has been given annually to the best player in the country since 1935. Most college football fans could care less who wins the award until the day they actually give it out. But it means a lot to the schools though for national recognition and recruiting purposes so they campaign for players like it’s a presidential election. The average fan may not care who wins the award but of course we care because enjoy betting on it. Every year you can get some pretty good odds before the season as most perceived candidates get bunched together in the +800 to +2000 range. Look at the last 3 winners and their opening odds.

2016. Lamar Jackson +10000

2015: Derrick Henry +1400

2014: Marcus Mariota +700

Obviously no one saw Lamar Jackson so anyone who hit on that was probably a Louisville fan. But look at 2014. Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota were clearly the 2 best players that year. So a $300 bet on Mariota would of netted $2100. Many futures bettors including us cleaned up on that. The odds are even more in your favor if you understand that the college game has turned into more of a passing game and this trophy has become a quarterbacks award. Since 2000 when Chris Weinke won it, the award has been given to a QB 14 0f 17 years. So if you stick with the just the QB’s the odds are even more in your favor. It’s also smart like any futures betting that you recheck the odds every week. After Lamar Jackson threw for 697 and 7 Td’s and rushed for 318 yards and 6 Td’s the country knew he was special and his odds were still around +400. Even after week 3 when he treated Florida St’s defense like a high school team he was still a solid bet at +160 at some books. Here are the 15 candidates with the best odds to take home the 2017 trophy.

Odds to Win the 2017 Heisman Trophy

2016: As a freshman Darnold played sparingly behind Max Browne the first 3 games. Darnold took over in game 4 and went 9-1, throwing for 3,086 yards and 31 touchdowns

2016: The junior QB had a stellar 2016 season throwing for 3,965 yards and 40 touchdowns. Mayfield also rushed for 5 scores on his way to a 3rd place Heisman finish.

2016: The sophomore QB had a season for the ages throwing for 3,543 yards and 30 Td’s while rushing for 1,571 and 21 more scores on his way to winning the Heisman trophy.

2016: The junior QB became the full time starter in 2016 and didn’t disappoint. Barrett threw for 2,555 yards and 24 Td’s. He also rushed for 845 yards and 9 scores leading the Buckeyes to the 2016 CFB playoffs.

2016: After splitting snaps in the first game, the freshman QB took over in week 2 and played very well throwing for 2,780 yards and 23 Td’s while rushing for 954 and 13 more scores while leading the Crimson Tide to the National Championship game.

2016: As a sophomore Bo Scarbrough split carries with Damien Harris. He finished with 812 yards.

2016: As a sophomore Saquon Barkley rushed for 1,496 yards and 18 touchdowns. The weird part of his yardage total was he was held to under 100 yards in 9 of Penn State’s 14 games.

2016: As a freshman Deondre Francois played as well as Seminole fans could of hoped. Francois threw for 3,350 yards and 20 Td’s and rushed for 5 more.

2016: The 4th pick in the NFL draft Leonard Fournette was not LSU’s leading rusher in 2016. Sophomore RB Derrius Guice rushed for 1,387 in 15 scores to lead the team in both categories.

2016: Many people believed sophomore QB Jake Browning was the best QB in the country in 2016. Browning threw for 3,430 yards and 40 Td’s and finished 5th in the Heisman while leading the Huskies to the CFB playoffs.

2016: Junior RB Nick Chubb rushed for 1,130 and 8 Td’s in 2016 despite being hobbled by injuries most of the season.

2016: Mason Rudolph is the best QB no one talked about in 2016. The junior QB threw for 4,091 yards and 28 Td’s while leading the Cowboys to 10-3 season.

2016: Bruins fans where looking for big things from QB Josh Rosen in his sophomore season. Unfortunately he was done for the season in game 6 with a shoulder injury. He finished with 1,915 yards and 10 scores.

2016: One of the breakout stars in 2016 was sophomore QB Trace McSorley who threw for 3,614 yards and 29 touchdowns, leading Penn State to a Rose Bowl berth.

2016: Sophomore QB Nick Fitzgerald threw for 2,423 and 21 TD’s despite the Bulldogs struggling to a 6-7 season.

RideTheHotHand Heisman Favorite, Dark Horse and Winner

The Favorite: Sam Darnold (+250) has the bottom feeders of the NFL absolutely drooling. He not only has all the tools the NFL scouts look for but his college team has a legitimate shot to win a national championship. Despite losing top wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to the NFL the Trojans are loaded at the skill positions.

The Dark Horse: Josh Rosen (+2000) isn’t getting nearly enough respect here at 20/1 due to the fact he hurt his shoulder and missed the 2nd half of last season. The NFL is drooling over this kid as well. He is returning all of his skill players and with a pretty easy schedule the Bruins should have a fantastic year with Rosen out to prove he’s the best pro prospect in college football.

RideTheHotHand’s Pick: Lamar Jackson (+800) We Know, We Know….. No player has won the Heisman back to back since Archie Griffin did it in 1974-75. We know the voters aren’t going to give it to a player back to back unless he has an extraordinaire, record breaking type season. We think Lamar Jackson is going to have that season and break the 30+ year back to back curse. Louisville’s schedule is not that tough with Clemson and Florida St the only really good teams they play. Louisville coaches are going to ask Jackson to be more of a runner in the first half the season as their young receivers get more experience. Jackson is by far the most electrifying runner in college football and he will rack up the rushing yards and touchdowns. Last year he rushed for 1,571 yards and 21 TD’s. As the receiver core gets better his passing stats will be there in the end as well. But what puts Jackson over the top is he will be the first QB in college football history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.

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