Heisman Trophy Watch: Can Hendon Hooker Overtake C.J. Stroud?
By Reed Wallach
The Heisman Trophy race has been dominated by one player for the most part, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, but is Hendon Hooker live to win the award?
Hooker is starting to building a case to win the award as he heads into the final stretch of SEC play. The numbers are comparable, but he is off the pace in terms of touchdowns as the Ohio State offense continues to generate explosive passing plays.
If Ohio State runs the table, it's going to be a difficult ask for Hooker to win the award, he'd need a win at Georgia on Nov. 5 at the very least. But it's a two man race at this point with Caleb Williams falling off last week and his odds getting even longer on a bye this week.
Let's take a look at the top two choices for the Heisman Trophy.
1. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State (-105) - Last Week (+100)
Stroud has an embarrassment of riches on the Ohio State roster, but his numbers are not runaway with the Heisman level at the moment.
The Ohio State defense has been vastly improved this season as the offense only needed 364 total yards in the 54-10 home win against Iowa due to six Hawkeyes turnovers.
Stroud has also stayed out of the public eye with the Buckeyes rolling over inferior competition. He will get a stiff test at Penn State next week, which can help his case.
2022 Stats: 113-160, 1,737 Yards, 24 Passing TDs, 3 INT
Next Week: @ Penn State
2. Hendon Hooker, Tennessee (+200) - Last Week (+550)
Granted it was an FCS foe, but Tennessee's offense continued to roll, hanging 65 points on Tennessee-Martin in a tune up game for the second half of the season.
Hooker was efficient, completing 18-of-24 passes for 275 yards for three touchdowns, a steady effort for the Vols quarterback.
It will likely come down to if Hooker can follow up his big outing against Alabama with another upset win at Georgia on Nov. 5 to pull neck-and-neck with Stroud, but the Ohio State quarterback seems ripe to be unseated at the top.
2022 Stats: 119-170, 1,817 Passing Yards, 15 Passing TDs, 1 INT
Next Week: Kentucky
3. Caleb Williams, USC (+1200) - Last Week (+900)
It's probably a far cry for Williams to make a run for the Heisman Trophy after the Trojans loss to Utah last week, but we will keep mentioning him due to his gaudy numbers.
If USC can find themselves in the College Football Playoff conversation it would be behind the Oklahoma transfers fine play, so we'll keep him in the mix for now.
2022 Stats: 147-230, 1,971 Passing Yards, 19 Passing TDs, 1 INT
Next Week: @ Arizona
2022 Heisman Trophy Odds
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.