After five weeks, the young man who won the 2022 Heisman Trophy is now the favorite to win the award again, at least by FanDuel.
In a story by FoxSports.com on Monday (2023 Heisman Trophy odds: Caleb Williams favored to win award), Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams is the current favorite to take home the award again in December. If he did so, he’d be just the second man to win the Heisman twice: former Ohio State running back Archie Griffin pulled the back-to-back Heisman Trophy feat as a junior and senior in the mid 1970s.
Williams as listed as +170 by FanDuel, by far the favorite over current second-place candidate Michael Penix Jr., the quarterback of the Washington Huskies (+400).
Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers both check in at +900. Jordan Travis, quarterback of the Florida State Seminoles (see a pattern here?) and Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel are both at +1600. Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke is listed at +3000; Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy at +3300; and LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman, both also quarterbacks, are listed at +3500.
All of the candidates, of course, are quarterbacks – no love yet for Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, for instance, or for Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
Penix, who leads the nation in passing yardage, was the previous favorite. But Williams went 30-of-40 for 403 yards, six touchdowns and an interception in helping the Trojans hold off Colorado on the road.
So far this season, Williams has passed for 1,603 yards, 21 touchdowns and the one interception, and USC is unbeaten (5-0), although a couple of their wins have been close and against unranked opponents, and Southern Cal hasn’t been able to crack the top five in either poll as a result.
Southern Cal hosts Arizona this weekend.