An Update On The Latest Heisman Buzz
When the Fall foliage begins to mirror the color of the pigskin, you know you’re knee deep in the college football season and soon to be knee deep in leaves.
We’re also up to our elbows in Heisman Trophy hopefuls so let’s begin digging out and digging into another look at how the college football media-verse is viewing the race.
Robert Griffin III was a dual-threat marvel on the field and he’s a dual-threat marvel as a Heisman broadcaster and voter.
In his latest Top 5 Heisman rankings, Griffin listed, in order, Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, Miami quarterback Darian Mensah, Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor, BYU QB Bear Bachmeier and Georgia QB Gunner Stockton.
If you were to ahem, poll the polls, you’ll find Smith atop just about all of them. The 2025 Heisman Trophy sixth-place finisher is second nationally in TD receptions (11), reception yards per game (152.7) and receptions (48).
Smith helped lead the Buckeyes polish off Maryland 45-16, on Saturday, turning a pair of short throws into 33-yard and 40-yard scores, amassing 93 yards on just four catches. And then there’s this 8-yard snare that’s the kind of play that earns extra love.
Matchups against defending national champion Indiana this weekend and at USC on Halloween provide a pair of huge opportunities to further state his Heisman case.
• • • As a weekly reminder, college football fans can now vote on a daily basis at hopefuls.heisman.com and have their vote count at the end of the season. The fan vote uses a season-long weighted model, developed in partnership with the Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Center, that gives greater weight to votes cast later in the year as the body of work grows and conference races intensify. • • •
As we’ve reviewed in this space before, there’s another OSU receiver putting up video game numbers as he climbs up the Heisman chatter board, Oregon State freshman Jesse Legree. He leads the nation in receiving yards per game (155.3) and TD catches (12) and is second in yards per reception (24.53).
His star is rising so fast that he’s now third in The Athletic’s latest Heisman Poll. He is coming off a 10-catch, 191-yard, three-TD performance in a 66-14 win over San Diego State that moved the Beavers to 4-2.
Legree is also sixth in the On3 latest rankings. Per On3: “One of the biggest breakout stars of the 2026 college football season has been Oregon State freshman wide receiver Jesse Legree. Legree, who was a three-star recruit this past cycle, has recorded at least 100 receiving yards in all six of his games this season. He is the first player in Oregon State history to record this feat.”
On3, like The Athletic, and Bleacher Report, have Williams first. The On3 poll lists Mensah second. The Hurricane QB is coming off a bye week so his pristine 15-0 TD to interception ration remains unadulterated. Mensah, also ranked second in The Athletic and Yahoo! Sports rankings, among others, will put that clean stat line to the test Saturday against intra-state rival Florida State.
Notre Dame QB CJ Carr only got a partial day’s work in Saturday as the now-No. 2 Irish moved to 6-0 following a 58-7 spanking of Stanford. Carr completed 14-of-20 passes for 181 yards and three scores, modest numbers, but understandable.
Carr ranks sixth nationally in QB rating and has completed 102-of-144 passes for 1,378 yards with 16 TDs and just one interception. Notre Dame’s schedule has been modest, but it faces No. 8 BYU on Saturday with No. 3 Miami looming in early November, which will provide Carr a huge platform to impress.
Speaking of the Cougars, RGIII’s fourth-place pick in the Heisman rankings Bachmeier threw a season-high 329 yards and two TDs in last week’s 24-10 win over Iowa State. A repeat effort against Notre Dame would be a huge boost for the Bear.
SEC QBs Trinidad Chambliss of Ole Miss, Stockton and Keelon Russell of Alabama continue to impress. Stockton, seventh in the Heisman voting last year, out dueled Russell on Saturday in a 20-17 Bulldog win. Stockton only threw four incomplete passes ien route to 249 yards and a score and also ran one in. Russell was solid in the loss.
Chambliss passed for three TDs and ran another in to keep Ole Miss in the Top 10 after a 52-17 win at Vanderbilt. Chambliss, eighth in the Heisman last year, is again providing steady leadership and huge numbers for the Rebels. He is ranked third by On3, fourth by The Athletic and fifth by Yahoo! Sports.
USC’s Jayden Maiava continues to be among the most productive QBs in the nation and led the Trojans to a road win at Penn State with 301 yards passing and three TDs. His 2,045 passing yards and 18 TD passes are both second nationally. With upcoming dates against Indiana and Ohio State, Maiava has a chance to go from Heisman long shot to contender.
Across town in L.A., UCLA running back Wayne Knight is gaining traction in Heisman voter eyes. He was tied for sixth with Carr in The Athletic’s poll after he ran for 103 yards and a TD and caught a scoring pass as well in the Bruins’ upset of Oregon. Per The Athletic: “Knight’s 109.6 yards per game on the ground lead the Big Ten, and his 10 rushing touchdowns rank third in the FBS.”
