Heisman Trophy odds: Joe Burrow new front-runner after Tua injury

With Tua Tagovailoa succumbing to an ankle injury, this could hurt his chances at the Heisman Trophy. Here are the updated odds for the Heisman for Week 9.

Who would have thought in a game where Alabama cruised over lowly cross-division rival Tennessee would end up featuring the most important story of the Week 8 slate? The reason for this is, unfortunately, Alabama star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered an ankle injury and had to leave the game before halftime and the Heisman race is wide-open now.

It was a high ankle sprain, similar to the injury Tagovailoa suffered in the SEC Championship against the Georgia Bulldogs last December. Tagovailoa underwent a procedure on his injured ankle, and not the one he hurt against Georgia nearly a year ago, on Monday and has been ruled out for Alabama’s next game against the division-rival Arkansas Razorbacks.

Alabama will be on a bye in Week 10 so that the Crimson Tide can get ready for their biggest game of the season against the LSU Tigers in Week 11. For Week 9, Alabama will start backup quarterback Mac Jones in Tagovailoa’s place.

The Crimson Tide should be fine with Jones under center against Arkansas, as the Hogs can’t win SEC games under head coach Chad Morris. That being said, missing Week 9 does hurt Tagovailoa’s chances of winning the Heisman. He will need to be back and playing at a high level against LSU if he wants to be the first Alabama signal-caller to bring the Heisman to Tuscaloosa.

Here are the updated odds for the Heisman Trophy entering Week 9 after Tagovailoa’s ankle injury. All odds are courtesy of The Action Network.

2019 Heisman Trophy odds, Week 9

• Joe Burrow, LSU Tigers quarterback: 6/5
• Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback: 7/2
• Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma Sooners quarterback: 7/5
• Justin Fields, Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback: 10/1
• Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin Badgers running back: 40/1
• Justin Herbert, Oregon Ducks quarterback: 40/1
• Sam Ehlinger, Texas Longhorns quarterback: 60/1
• D’Andre Swift, Georgia Bulldogs running back: 80/1
• Trevor Lawrence, Clemson Tigers quarterback: 100/1
• Travis Etienne, Clemson Tigers running back: 100/1
• Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State Cowboys running back: 100/1

LSU quarterback Joe Burrow leads the pack at 6/5. Burrow has been sensational for the Bayou Bengals, taking the Baton Rouge vertical passing game to unforeseen heights with Joe Brady as LSU’s new passing game coordinator. The record-setting LSU quarterback has been the front-runner for a few weeks now and should be as long as the Tigers keep on winning.

Tagovailoa comes in with the second-best odds to win the Heisman at 7/2. The preseason favorite to win the award goes from 5/7 in Week 8 to 7/2 this week. While he does move up a spot from No. 3 to No. 2, he won’t have the data point of what could have been a certain beat down of Arkansas to have on his resume. This injured may have very well cost him the Heisman.

Coming in at No. 3 is Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jalen Hurts. The former Alabama starter saw his odds go from 3/1 last week to 7/5 this week. He can continue to put up great numbers in the Big 12, but only one game of consequence left on the regular-season slate against the Baylor Bears may not be enough to slake the Heisman voters’ thirst for a third-straight Sooner winner.

The players with the fourth and fifth-best odds to win the Heisman in Week 9 will be playing each other in Columbus on Saturday. Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback has the fourth-best at 10/1, while Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor is tied for the fifth-best odds with Oregon Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert at 40/1. This feels like a Heisman cross-off game for the loser.

Rounding out the quasi-Heisman hopefuls with 100/1 or better odds to win it entering Week 9 are as follows: Texas Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger at 60/1, Georgia Bulldogs running back D’Andre Swift at 80/1 and three players at 100/1 in Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Clemson running back Travis Etienne and Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Chuba Hubbard.

Of those six dark horses to win the award, your best bet at this point is probably Georgia running back Swift. The reason for this is Georgia’s offense is increasingly ground-centric, as former Heisman contender in quarterback Jake Fromm has had his issues the last two weeks. If Georgia makes it to Atlanta at 11-1 (7-1), Swift will be the reason for that offensively. He could be in play.

For now, it feels like a four-man race. Burrow is the undisputed leader. Hurts will get an invitation at this point and very likely Tagovailoa if he plays great coming back from injury. As for the fourth spot, that could go to either Fields or Taylor depending on which team wins between Ohio State and Wisconsin on Saturday. Outside of that, maybe Swift or a Clemson player has a slim chance?

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