Spring Ball is here, and with it first looks at the next wave of Heisman Hopefuls

The 2026 college football season is still almost a half year away, unless you count spring football as part of the schedule. In that case, it’s time to tailgate, as schools across the country begin to piece together their teams in March.

The optimism for what new rosters may bring come fall has never been higher in the spring thanks to the infusion of transfer portal talent.

Likewise, the possibilities for 2026 Heisman candidates are endless this time of year, where dozens of candidates have blank canvases waiting to be colored in by hopeful sketches of dream seasons.

And why not dream big. This time last year, Fernando Mendoza wasn’t an unknown, but was also nowhere near a list of top Heisman contenders. He’s now a Heisman winner and a likely No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

In fact, first-year Indiana quarterbacks have finished in the Heisman Top 10 in two straight years as Kurtis Rourke finished ninth in the 2024 balloting.

Which, naturally, turns many eyes to IU’s newest transfer QB, Josh Hoover, who became a Hoosier earlier this year after three years starting at TCU. Hoover will take his first spring snaps in crimson and cream later this month and will surely be in the thick of preseason Heisman chatter.

One 2025 Heisman finalist returns to the 2026 college gridiron and that’s Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin, who is back as a redshirt sophomore.

Sayin and fellow Buckeye and 2025 Heisman top 10 finisher Jeremiah Smith, a wideout, opened camp in Columbus on Tuesday (March 10). Ohio State has churned out Heisman finalists at an impressive pace of late, sending seven Buckeyes to New York since 2018.

The only other returning Heisman Top 10 finisher from 2025 is Georgia QB Gunner Stockton. He and the Bulldogs open camp in Athens on March 17.

There are many familiar names who began the 2025 season as strong Heisman hopefuls who are back in 2026.

None are more well known than Texas returning starting junior QB Arch Manning, who began the 2025 a Heisman frontrunner. Fate, of course, had other ideas, and Manning fell out of the race despite passing for 3,163 yards and 26 touchdowns to go with 10 rushing scores.

Manning and the Longhorns opened camp March 9 and hope to build on Texas’ wins over three ranked teams in the final five games of 2025, including two over top 10 teams. As such, Manning is back as a strong Heisman hopeful.

Notre Dame opens spring camp on March 20 without 2025 Heisman finalist running back Jeremiyah Love in the backfield, but Irish QB  CJ Carr returns as a leading Heisman hopeful.

USC started spring camp on March 3 while Big Ten rival Oregon opens camp today (March 12) and both return veteran QBs who could be in the thick of the Heisman race.

Trojan Jayden Maiava is back for his third season at USC and fourth as an NCAA QB. Moore, similarly, is set to play in his third season in Eugene and second as a starter after starting at UCLA. Both figure to, ahem, figure in the Heisman race this fall.

College Football Playoff finalist Miami and LSU both open their respective spring camps on March 24 and both will feature transfer QBs.

The Tigers welcomed longtime Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt to Baton Rouge. And remember, the last time a QB transferred to LSU from Tempe was Jayden Daniels in 2022. He won as a Heisman as a Tiger in 2023.

As for the Hurricanes, they brought in Duke transfer Darian Mensah, who hopes to follow in the footsteps of successful recent Hurricane transfer QBs Cam Ward and Carson Beck.

There truly are dozens of Heisman hopefuls. Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed, Oklahoma’s John Mateer and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers give the SEC even more Heisman hopefuls.

Mateer and the Sooners opened camp earlier this week while Sellers and the Gamecocks opened March 4. The Aggies and Reed open camp March 20.

That’s just a tasting menu’s worth of names. The full meal will have to wait until September. For now, the spring appetizer will have to do.