Updated Heisman Odds: Barkley Continues to Run Away From the Rest

Updated Heisman Odds: Barkley Continues to Run Away From the Rest

Less than two months ago, 26 players were given odds to be the Heisman Trophy winner at BetOnline. As of this morning, we’re down to just 12, nine of which were part of the original 26.

As expected, Saquon Barkley remains the favorite, and he’s widened the gap considerably since last week. With Bryce Love missing last week’s game due to an ankle injury, Barkley’s two-touchdown performance at Ohio State made him the clear-cut favorite to win the award.

Though Barkley widened his lead in the race, the big winner of this past week was J.T. Barrett. After leading Ohio State’s comeback in what’s been the biggest game of the year thus far, Barrett saw his Heisman chances rise from +800 to +400. He threw for 328 yards and 4 TDs on 33 of 39 passing, and added another 95 yards on the ground, maintaining his Big Ten lead in both passing yards and touchdowns. Equally important to his Heisman chances was simply earning the win, as he’ll now be playing more meaningful games down the road, likely including a Big Ten Championship Game with a chance to propel his team to the playoffs.

It’s difficult to make sense of Bryce Love’s chance at the trophy at this point. Thanks to a bye week and an ankle injury, we haven’t seen him play since October 14th, but his numbers in the games he’s played have been remarkable. He still leads the FBS in yards despite the two consecutive weekends off, and is averaging 10.3 yards per carry. If he plays this week at WSU and is able to pick up where he left off, there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t return to where he’s been listed the past couple weeks. He’s currently a game-time decision.