The 2022 Heisman Trophy picture is sharpening into focus through the thick of the summer.
Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud recently overtook Alabama’s Bryce Young as the favorite in the quarterback-driven award. But in a field with a laundry list of contenders, where do players like USC’s Caleb Williams, Texas’ Bijan Robinson, Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr., and others land on the odds board?
Here’s how the action’s shaping up at Caesars with the season just a little more than a month away.
Stroud up, everyone else down
Caesars originally priced nine players 25/1 or shorter to win the Heisman. Stroud is the only player whose odds have shortened since the original numbers were released.
Caesars moves include Young from +200 to +350, Williams from +500 to 10/1, Robinson from 20/1 to 30/1, South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler from 20/1 to 40/1, and Nebraska QB Casey Thompson from 25/1 to 75/1 in the slew of adjustments.
Stroud ranked top-five nationally last year in both passing yards and touchdowns, as well as QBR. His final impression on the 2021-22 season was a 573-yard, six-touchdown performance over Utah in the Rose Bowl.
“There’s been a lot of Ohio State love recently for futures,” Caesars Lead College Football Trader, Joseph Feazel, said in a recent article by Max Meyer. “It makes sense that Stroud is getting that love as well. They’re the huge favorites to win the Big Ten and they have the second-lowest odds to win the national title [behind Alabama], so he’s in a good position if he has a good year.”
Young isn’t the only intriguing Alabama Heisman candidate
Young’s getting a respectable amount of tickets at Caesars — (4.1 percent, sixth-most), but his handle — or total dollars wagered — isn’t even top 10.
In fact, Caesars noted that Young’s Alabama teammates, Anderson (6.9 percent) and running back Jahmyr Gibbs (5.8 percent), both have more money wagered on them than the reigning Heisman winner. Anderson is the top linebacker in the entire country and Alabama is bound to unleash Gibbs, who rushed for 746 yards and caught 36 passes with Georgia Tech last year.
Those two are among the rare few trending up in this market. Anderson’s odds improved from 60/1 to 40/1 and Gibbs 100/1 to 60/1 over the last couple of months.
An interesting player in the Heisman market is new Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward. Ward is 75/1 at Caesars, but as low as 50/1 at BetMGM.
Ward may not be a household name yet but he brings an impressive résumé with him to Washington State. New offensive coordinator Eric Morris was the head coach at Incarnate Word the last four years and he brought Ward with him to the Palouse.
Last season under Morris at Incarnate Word, Ward passed for 4,648 yards and 47 touchdowns on his way to being named Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year. It’s never easy winning the Heisman Trophy when playing for a school like Washington State but the Pac-12 North looks to be wide open this year.
If Ward puts up big numbers while leading the Cougars to the Pac-12 title game, he should be in the Heisman conversation at the end of the year.
