Anything you’ve seen about the preseason Heisman Trophy favorites: throw it out the door. None of the early season favorites should even be considered at this point. Arch Manning has struggled this season and a bad looking win over UTEP highlighted his flaws. As for DJ Lagway, well he won’t be back in the conversation this season after a five-interception outing against LSU last week.
Garrett Nussmeier was largely considered one of the top quarterbacks entering the season and he’s fizzled out as well as Cade Klubnik being looped into the same group as Manning and Lagway. That said, there’s quite a few more exciting names that you should be hearing more about as Heisman Trophy favorites.
Here’s a refreshed look at the new Heisman Trophy power rankings ahead of Week 4 of the college football season.
Heisman Trophy power rankings ahead of Week 4
5. QB Marcel Reed, Texas A&M Aggies
Marcel Reed looked every bit like a player ready to take the national stage and right now as one of only a handful of quarterbacks with ranked wins, he deserves to be considered in the Heisman Trophy race. This year, he has 869 passing yards with eight touchdown passes and an interception. The one thing carrying his Heisman Trophy resume is his dual threat ability. He’s got 142 rushing yards in three games with a rushing touchdown as well.
He’ll have a gauntlet this year to prove he’s worthy of college football’s highest award, but so far, he’s proving he’s one of the best in the country and in the SEC. Getting a big road win over Notre Dame goes a long way and with Reed playing this well, Texas A&M will be one of the toughest teams to play against.
4. WR Germie Bernard, Alabama Crimson Tide
There was a lot of talk about Ryan Williams coming into the 2025 season, but Germie Bernard has quickly risen as the top receiver for Alabama this season. Bernard has 274 receiving yards and three touchdowns on the season.
His biggest performance of the season was against Florida State, and despite a loss, had 146 receiving yards on eight catches. He’s the impact player of this offense right now, and if any non-quarterback is going to win the award, he has to be in the conversation.
3. QB Carson Beck, Miami Hurricanes
I’m not high on Carson Beck, but that goes to show how out of whack this season has been. That said, if Beck keeps winning and takes down Florida this week in dominant fashion, I have to put my bias aside and accept that he should be a serious Heisman candidate. He fell out of the race last year and decided to come back to prove he’s still good.
So far he’s done just that but only if he plays well against a really good Florida defense will I start to give him more credit. Florida might not have the best offense, but their defense right now is up there with the best in college football so this will be another good test for him and his Heisman campaign.
2. QB John Mateer, Oklahoma Sooners
John Mateer only has five touchdown passes and three interceptions, but he’s come in and been the best addition for the Oklahoma Sooners this year. He has 944 passing yards and 161 rushing yards with four rushing touchdowns. There was a lot of scrutiny about Mateer and if he could come to the SEC and still run the ball the same way he did at Washington State. While he hasn’t played an SEC opponent yet, he’s proving that at least against good defenses, he’ll still be a running threat.
I’m slightly alarmed about his touchdown-to-interception ratio, but for now you can’t deny he’s one of the best quarterbacks in college football. If he continues to improve as a passer and helps Oklahoma get some big wins, you can’t ignore him as a serious contender for the Heisman Trophy.
1. WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State Buckeyes
This always felt like his Heisman Trophy race to win. While there were a handful of quarterbacks that dominated the headlines coming into the year, we can’t forget about last year’s top freshman player in college football. He has 315 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns this year and though they haven’t played great competition outside of Texas to start the year, he’s proving he’s still one of the best players in the country.
After the way the quarterbacks fell apart to start the year, this feels like the year another non-quarterback will win the Heisman Trophy and at this point, it’s Smith’s until I see something otherwise.