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Matt Corral has slipped to fourth in Bovada’s prop bet odds for the Heisman trophy.
It’s frustrating to think about how differently things could have gone for Corral with a healthy offense around him. Of course, there are also the multiple injuries he has sustained, which aren’t especially the fault of anyone, we want to wish away.
He’s certainly playing good football. It’s just that this season is worse, statistically, than last. Sure, Corral had Elijah Moore and Royce Newman last season. In order to be in serious contention for the Heisman though, he had to elevate the cast around him. He hasn’t really done that, as this ragtag group of receivers is failing to make consistent contributions. Again, that’s not Matt Corral’s fault, but if he was ever going to win the Heisman, he needed to be so good at quarterbacking that the offense around him had no choice but to be prolific.
It hasn’t been.
Still, if Corral is able to win his last four regular season games, there’s a decent chance he ends up at the ceremony.
As I mention every week, he doesn’t play in a vacuum. Let’s take a look at what the other hopefuls are doing.
Bryce Young | QB | Alabama | +180
Young struggled, to an extent, against a hapless LSU squad. A QBR of 63 against a team that appeared lifeless in Oxford a few weeks ago could either be an outlier or a harbinger of things to come. CJ Stroud is on his tail as the quarterback most likely to win it, and Young needs to play well in bouts against Arkansas and Auburn to end the season.
Kenneth Walker III | RB | Michigan State | +240
The loss to Purdue didn’t really hurt Walker’s chances, as he played well. Still, he likely needs to go berserk against Ohio State in a few weeks. A fantastic showing (and a win) in that game would make a lot of “de facto Alabama” Heisman voters think twice.
CJ Stroud | QB| Ohio State | +400
CJ Stroud played his worst game of the season against Nebraska and still accounted for over 400 yards of offense and two touchdowns. The problem, of course, was his two interceptions. Regardless, I’m picking Stroud to rise to the top of this list over the next few weeks and ultimately win the trophy. He has three straight chances against top 25 opponents (including #6 Michigan and #7 Michigan State) to end the year. Strong showings in those games would be enough, in my opinion, for Stroud to leapfrog everyone above him. Honestly, at this point, I’m a little surprised he’s not already the leader with 25 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions on the season.
Caleb Williams | QB | Oklahoma | +700
Caleb Williams had a bye last week, so he still has attempted only 109 passes on the season. How is he a top five contender for the award? I understand that the guy has been really good in his three starts, but..... he has three starts against TCU, Kansas, and Texas Tech. Why are we doing this?