Seven New Longshots Appear in 2019 Heisman Odds; Are Any Worth a Wager?

• You can now wager on seven new longshot Heisman Trophy candidates
• Eight of the last nine Heisman Trophy winners have been quarterbacks and no wide receiver has won the award since 1991
• Do any of the new longshot candidates offer good value?

The college football season is 11 weeks away and the list of Heisman Trophy candidates continues to grow. Books have added seven new longshot contenders for you to wager on, and although none of them scream exceptional value, there may be a diamond or two in the rough.

2019 Heisman Trophy Odds

*Odds taken 06/07/19

Of the seven new contenders with Heisman Trophy odds, six are quarterbacks which is important since eight of the last nine winners have played that position.

Assessing the Newcomers

We can discard three of the new candidates right off the bat due to a lack of guaranteed playing time. Bo Nix and Gage Gubrud are currently battling for their respective school’s number one QB role, while David Summers is expected to be the backup at Syracuse. If we continue to cut down our pool, we can eliminate Jaylen Waddle due to the position he plays (no wide receiver has won the Heisman since 1991) and the fact that he’s a far inferior talent than his stud wideout teammate Jerry Jeudy.

After back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners, @OU_Football has tied the score. pic.twitter.com/Cx5Cogo3qa

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 9, 2018

That leaves us with Charlie Brewer, Jake Bentley, and Joe Burrow, three experience starting quarterbacks, and of the three I like Bentley’s chances the best.

Bentley is a Legit Sleeper

Bentley completed 62% of his passes in 2018, for over 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns. He’s steadily improved in each of his first three seasons and he operates in a more pass heavy offense than both Brewer and Burrow.

He threw for three or more touchdowns on five separate occasions last season, including a five TD performance against the national champs, in which he also eclipsed 500 passing yards.

Jake Bentley threw for a combined 24 first downs and touchdowns against Clemson – leading the Power-5 QBs (and the nation) in the process pic.twitter.com/c2vuwD285y

— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 25, 2018

He seriously considered turning pro after his junior season, and his +10000 odds seem too long for a player with 40 TD upside.

D’Eriq King Also Deserves Your Attention

Another longshot to pay attention to is Houston Cougars quarterback D’Eriq King. A knee injury cut his 2018 season short, but he still managed to rack up 50 total touchdowns in just 11 games.

No one was stopping Houston’s QB from getting to the endzone ? pic.twitter.com/dwzTvwUfKA

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) October 27, 2018

He can put up points both through the air and on the ground, and he’ll be leading a Houston offense that averaged 44 points a game last season, and accumulated the seventh-most yards in all of College Football.