2022 Heisman odds: Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud enters Week 1 as betting favorite

Week 0 served as a nice appetizer, but the 2022-23 college football season truly begins in a few days with Week 1.

It might seem like only a few of the same schools have a shot at a national championship every year, but the Heisman Trophy race tends to be more competitive. In fact, the preseason betting favorite has not won this award since Oregon’s Marcus Mariota accomplished the feat in 2014.

That is good news for bettors, but bad news for Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, who has the best odds to win the Heisman Trophy with a price of +200. Stroud was a contender for this award last year before Alabama quarterback Bryce Young ultimately secured the 86th Heisman Trophy.

When the odds for this market opened at Caesars Sportsbook, official odds partner of Bet Chicago Sports, Young opened as the +250 favorite followed by Stroud at +350. Since mid-April, however, Stroud has been the betting favorite to win this award.

Notable Big Ten Players

Stroud is the betting favorite entering his second season with the Buckeyes, who have national championship aspirations. Stroud finished with 4,435 passing yards and 44 touchdowns last year, but Ohio State went 11-2 and missed the College Football Playoff for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign.

The Buckeyes figure to have one of the best offenses in the country this year, which is why running back TreVeyon Henderson and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba also have decent odds to win the Heisman Trophy. Henderson is fourth in odds with a price of +2000, while Smith-Njigba has the best odds for a receiver at +4000.

Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen has the best odds in this market among non-Buckeye Big Ten players. Allen is listed at +6000 ahead of his second season with the Badgers. He recorded 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns on 186 attempts last year.

Four different Big Ten quarterbacks enter the year with the same odds to win the award. Sean Clifford (Penn State), JJ McCarthy (Michigan), Taulia Tagovailoa (Maryland) and Aidan O’Connell (Purdue) are all listed at 100/1. Michigan running back Blake Corum has a price of +10000 as well.

Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson had +7500 odds to win this individual award before Week 0, but has since moved to +15000. The transfer from Texas threw a pair of interceptions in a 31-28 loss to Northwestern during the season opener in Dublin, Ireland.

The last Big Ten player to win the Heisman was Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, who claimed the prestigious award in 2006.

Betting Trends To Know

Ready for some ground-breaking analysis? This year’s Heisman winner will likely be a quarterback on a winning team.

Dating back to 2000, 18 of the 22 award winners have played quarterback. Over that span, all but two of the Heisman winners were on teams who ended up winning double-digit games.

That prerequisite might be even more difficult in the current era of college football. Since the College Football Playoff began in 2014, quarterback Lamar Jackson is the only player to win the award while playing on a team that didn’t make the CFP. He did that by putting up video-game numbers on a nine-win Louisville squad.

As a result, make sure that you can see a path to double-digit wins and a semifinal appearance before placing a bet on this year’s Heisman Trophy winner.

Best Bet

Truth be told, I made a few different Heisman bets earlier this summer and risked a total of one unit on this market. But my last bet on this award race came last week, and the number is still enticing enough to recommend before the opening weekend.

Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei is currently listed at 50/1 to win the Heisman award after being one of the top preseason favorites last year. That is because Uiagalelei struggled last season, finishing with 2,246 yards to go along with nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

The Tigers have decided to give Uiagalelei another shot, though he will certainly have a shorter leash with highly-touted freshman Cade Klubnik breathing down his neck. But Uiagalelei was once a promising prospect behind Trevor Lawrence, and all offseason reports suggest that he’s been putting in the work this summer.

Clemson won double-digit games last year without getting much production from the quarterback position. The defense, which ranked second in scoring average behind the national champions last year, brings back enough talent to make this team a serious CFP contender once again.

Uiagalelei will be in the mix for this award if he shows any signs of improvement, meaning it is certainly worth a bet at a price of 50/1.

Recent Heisman Trophy Winners

• 2021: Bryce Young, Alabama QB
• 2020: Devonta Smith, Alabama WR
• 2019: Joe Burrow, LSU QB
• 2018: Kyler Murray, Oklahoma QB
• 2017: Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma QB
• 2016: Lamar Jackson, Louisville QB
• 2015: Derrick Henry, Alabama RB
• 2014: Marcus Mariota, Oregon QB

2022 Heisman Trophy Odds

Below are 2022 Heisman Trophy odds as listed by Caesars:

• C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State: +200
• Bryce Young, QB, Alabama: +430
• Caleb Williams, QB, USC: +700
• TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State +2000
• Will Anderson Jr., EDGE, Alabama: +2200
• Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama: +2400
• Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas: +2500
• Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oklahoma: +2800
• Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas: +3500
• Tyler Van Dyke, QB, Miami: +3500
• Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State: +4000
• Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss: +5000
• Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida: +5000
• Spencer Rattler, QB, South Carolina: +5000
• D.J. Uiagalelei, QB, Clemson: +5000
• Will Shipley, RB, Clemson: +5000
• Kedon Slovis, QB, Pittsburgh: +6000
• Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU: +6000
• Will Levis, QB, Kentucky: +6000
• Stetson Bennett, QB, Georgia: +6000
• KJ Jefferson, QB, Arkansas: +6000
• Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee: +6000
• JT Daniels, QB, West Virginia: +6000
• Braelon Allen, RB, Wisconsin: +6000
• Devin Leary, QB, NC State: +6000
• Haynes King, QB, Texas A&M: +6000
• Bo Nix, QB, Oregon: +7500
• Tyler Buchner, QB, Notre Dame: +7500
• Jordan Addison, WR, USC: +7500
• Malik Cunningham, QB, Louisville: +7500
• Cameron Rising, QB, Utah: +7500
• Will Rogers, QB, Mississippi State: +8000
• All other selections have odds of 100/1 or longer