Tua Tagovailoa Tops Latest Heisman Trophy Futures

After two full weeks of college football, odds makers continue to shuffle the Heisman Trophy futures with quarterbacks now squarely in the spotlight. The top three best odds to win college football’s most coveted individual trophy are held by signal callers.

Heading the list is Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa (+333), followed by West Virginia’s Will Grier (+450) and Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins (+650).

Surprising to many was the fall of Jonathan Taylor, the talented running back with the Wisconsin Badgers who last week was sitting at (+320) and has fallen to (+900). Rounding out the top five best odds is Penn State’s quarterback Trace McSorley (+950).

Tagovailoa started the season sharing starting duties with last year’s starter Jalen Hurts, but following two straight impressive games, Tua was named the team’s lead quarterback by coach Nick Saban.

The native of Hawaii last week threw four touchdowns with no interceptions and has 455 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions through two games.

However, the odds against the Crimson Tide quarterback are big since no quarterback at Alabama has ever won the coveted Heisman Trophy.

West Virginia quarterback Will Grier is a close second after beginning the season strong with 761 yards passing, nine touchdowns and one interception. Grier has led the Mountaineers to big wins over Tennessee and Youngstown State. While the West Virginia schedule is fairly easy most of the season, Grier and teammates will face three tough opponents in the final three games in TCU, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Ohio State’s Haskins has thrown for 546 yards in two games, with nine touchdowns and only one interception. The one advantage over the course of the season that Haskins may have over Grier is the Buckeyes have a much better chance of reaching the College Football Playoff than do the Mountaineers.

Taylor is not getting any appreciation from odds makers. Last week his odds were second best to win the Heisman following an opening week of 145 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Taylor followed that up with 253 yards rushing and three TDs against New Mexico yet his odds tumbled to +900 or from second to fourth.

For Taylor to have a good chance of winning the Heisman he will have to put up outrageous numbers for rushing yards and touchdowns and his team will have to find a way to reach the CFP. However, to do that the Badgers will likely have to beat Ohio State.

Stanford’s Bryce Love the preseason favorite to win the Heisman has fallen to eighth (+1600) following  an opening week of 29 yards rushing and 135 yards rushing last week against USC.