The Heisman Trophy is the top individual honor in college football. Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, as well as some others, are the top players in the sport. As it often is with the name-brand talent near the top, overreaction to each week of college football is a must.
According to the latest odds coming out of Las Vegas, Baker Mayfield has surpassed Lamar Jackson as the new Heisman Trophy favorite. It might not seem so shocking, as humans have spent the last few days bashing Jackson's latest performance, but this is clearly a perception versus reality issue.
We, briefly, discussed Lamar Jackson not being as awful over the weekend as some were making it seem to be. What we didn't touch on, however, was that many of the other Heisman Trophy hopefuls haven't exactly been gnarly.
Both Sam Dornald and Josh Rosen have looked — relative to themselves — pedestrian to start the season.
Heisman odds
Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma: 7/4
Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville: 11/2
Sam Darnold, QB, USC: 11/2
Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State: 9/1
Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State: 9/1
Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon: 25/1
Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon: 25/1
Jalen Hurts, QB, Alabama: 25/1
Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA: 25/1
J.K. Dobbins, RB, Ohio State: 40/1
There's obviously some preason bias when it comes to these things. Mason Rudolph has had an arguably better start to the season than most of the guys head of him. He didn't, however, enter the year with as much hype as them.
It goes without saying that odds made in Vegas are created to make action. They are not released, at least not inherently, to predict the future. After all, we already had a few different front-runners a weeks into the season.
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