The Heisman Memorial Trophy for the 2020 season will officially be awarded Tuesday night. Long before that, the oddsmakers have laid down their favorites to win the trophy for college football's most outstanding player in the 2021 season.
First, here are the finalists for the 2020 trophy (in alphabetical order, by last name). The finalists were announced on December 24, 2020. The virtual ceremony will take place Tuesday night (Jan. 5, 2021) on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET.
- Mac Jones, QB, Alabama
- Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
- DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama
- Kyle Trask, QB, Florida
Perhaps Lawrence and Trask were among the top candidates in the Heisman race entering the 2020 season. Jones was taking the reigns as a new quarterback, and Smith was part of a 1-2 wide receiver punch with Jaylen Waddle at Alabama.
Regardless of how things played out in the 2020 season, here are the 2021 Heisman favorites, according to mybookie.ag.
- Spencer Rattler, QB, Oklahoma +450
- Sam Howell, QB, UNC +550
- D.J. Uiagalelei, QB, Clemson +600
- Kedon Slovis, QB, USC +700
- D'Eriq King, QB, Miami +1000
- Bryce Young, QB, Alabama +1200
- Tyler Shough, QB, Oregon +1400
- Kyren Williams, RB, Notre Dame +1400
- Brian Robinson Jr., RB, Alabama +1500
- Michael Penix Jr., QB, Indiana +1600
- Brock Purdy, QB, Iowa St. +1700
- Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas +1700
- Breece Hall, RB, Iowa St. +1850
- Isaiah Spiller, RB, Texas A&M +1900
- Matt Corral, QB, Ole Miss +1900
- Kevin Harris, RB, South Carolina +2000
- Dillon Gabriel, QB, UCF +2100
- Carson Strong, QB, Nevada +2200
- Jordan Addison, WR, Pitt +2300
- John Metchie III, WR, Alabama +2400
- Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College +2500
- Grayson McCall, QB, Coastal Carolina +2500
The Heisman Trophy is the most prestigious individual award handed out annually in college football. It's not a team trophy, and it does not always go to a quarterback—although a quarterback has won the award all but three times since 2000.
Who are the Heisman voters?
The Heisman Memorial Trust selects media writers and personalities who cover college football from six different regions in the United States, with 145 voters per region. That equals 870 total media votes.
Then there are former Heisman Trophy winners, who each get a vote. Then, a collective fan vote gets one last ballot. In all, there are less than 1,000 votes.
How does the Heisman voting work?
For each ballot, voters select three players, in order, from No. 1 choice, No. 2 and No. 3, with the players getting 3 points, 2 and 1, respectively. The player with the most overall votes across all ballots will be awarded the Heisman Trophy.
Votes are counted secretly by Deloitte, and voters are asked to keep their votes private—not broadcast publicly, through their publications or on social media—until the Heisman Trophy is awarded.
About the writer
Scott McDonald is a Newsweek deputy night editor based in Cape Coral, Florida. His focus is assigning and writing stories across all topics, from news to politics, business, weather, sports and international news. Scott joined Newsweek in 2018 after a lengthy career of print journalism in Texas, including The Dallas Morning News, where he was a sportswriter, and he's a voter for the Heisman Trophy. He has been a newspaper editor-in-chief and also a newspaper publisher. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin. You can get in touch with Scott by emailing s.mcdonald@newsweek.com. Languages: English
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