Colorado’s two-way standout Travis Hunter made the biggest waves in the Heisman market with a huge Week 1 performance to kick off the college football season. At the same time, a few quarterbacks continued to gain steam at multiple sportsbooks, with two passers for highly ranked programs leading the way.
We go over the changing Heisman Trophy odds market below using data from multiple major sportsbooks.
Ewers odds jump with Texas win
Texas came up with one of the biggest wins of the weekend by taking down defending champion Michigan, 31-12, shifting their College Football Playoff odds down to +500 and leading to quarterback Quinn Ewers leapfrogging a couple of Heisman candidates as the favorite at some books. Ewers passed for 246 yards and three touchdowns against an elite defense, and the third-year starter is sporting an 84.2 QBR (per ESPN) so far this season.
The biggest jump for Ewers came at Fanatics Sportsbook, where he moved from the sixth-longest odds at +1100 to the favorite at +500 after his Week 2 performance. Ewers shifted from +800 to +600 at BetMGM Sportsbook and jumped from +1400 to +600 this week at DraftKings Sportsbook.
While his odds are shifting, Ewers is not necessarily leading the market in terms of tickets or handle.
“Since Texas-Michigan kicked off, there has been a lot more action on Texas national title than Ewers Heisman,” said Fanatics senior editor Max Meyer. “Texas not just beating, but dominating, Michigan at the Big House was the biggest message sent this season. So it’s not surprising to see that the Longhorns have the most tickets and handle to win it all of any team since Saturday. But for Heisman, the two names people are really backing of late are Ashton Jeanty and Nico Iamaleava.”
Iamaleava odds: Lots of action, less movement so far
While his odds didn’t move as much across college football betting sites this week, Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava is still taking the most action at BetMGM, with 12.2% of tickets and 11.7% of handle on the 6-foot-6 passer. After combining for 276 yards and three touchdowns in a 51-10 rout of NC State in Week 2, Iamaleava did see a huge shift at Caesars Sportsbook, where he is now the favorite with +400 odds, versus his +1200 odds at MGM and DraftKings.
Ewers is now right behind Iamaleava in terms of ticket percentage (8.1%) at MGM, followed by Hunter (7.4%), who electrified in Week 1 but is losing steam now along with Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders (shifted from +2500 to +4000 at MGM). Preseason favorite Dillon Gabriel has taken the second-most handle (11.2%) at MGM behind Iamaleava.
DraftKings has taken the most handle (13%) and tickets (11%) on Iamaleava, followed by Ewers (10% of handle and 6% of tickets). Gabriel’s odds have lengthened to +1100 at DraftKings with only 5% of handle placed on the Oregon quarterback. USC quarterback Miller Moss is at +1800 after opening the season with +4000 odds.
