College Football Futures: Heisman Trophy Winner Odds, Picks & Predictions (2025)
In a sports world of participation trophies and awards for nearly everything under the sun, one honor still stands above the rest: the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best player in College Football.
With more players returning to school and foregoing the NFL Draft in the modern era thanks to NIL and the transfer portal, the talent pool is as deep as ever. That creates value in the awards betting market, including my 65-1 hit on Travis Hunter a season ago.
Unless you’re completely bought into the hype surrounding Texas QB Arch Manning (7-1) getting his turn to man the ship or Penn State QB Drew Allar (10-1) in his return for his senior season, there isn’t a runaway favorite, even at the quarterback position. However, there are two specific opening-line values that shouldn’t be ignored.
Here are my best bets for the 2025 College Football futures Heisman Trophy market.
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College Football Futures: Heisman Trophy Odds, Picks & Predictions (2025)
Jeremiyah Love (RB – Notre Dame) | (+8000 via DraftKings) .5u
Following a run to the College Football Playoff National Championship, there's a buzz in South Bend, Ind. Head coach Marcus Freeman is the real deal, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will remain in the national conversation for years to come.
This team has some significant losses, including QB Riley Leonard, TE Mitchell Evans, S Xavier Watts, DT Howard Cross III and CB Benjamin Morrison. However, that opens up the door for RB Jeremiyah Love to carry this team and get into the Heisman Trophy conversation.
As a sophomore, the four-star recruit proved to be arguably the best underclassman running back in the country, rushing for 1,125 yards at 6.9 Yards Per Carry (YPC), the 10th-best clip in College Football. He also found paydirt 19 total times while adding 28 receptions and 237 yards through the air.
With Leonard heading to the NFL, the Fighting Irish will likely turn to QB CJ Carr, who returns after a redshirt freshman season on campus. While Carr can get out of the pocket and move, he doesn't project as nearly the rusher Leonard was. That means Love and backfield mate Jadarian Price will be tasked with replacing Leaonard's 184 rushing attempts, 906 yards and 17 scores on the ground. If Love takes just half that production, he'll be in the mix to lead the country in rushing. It also doesn't hurt that all 12 of Notre Dame's regular-season games will be nationally televised, beginning in Week 1 on the road against the Miami Hurricanes.
There have been 11 running backs who have finished in the top 10 of Heisman Trophy voting since 2020 (an average of 2.2 per season). With bet365 and FanDuel listing Love's odds at 40-1 and 45-1, respectively, they could see it happening yet again. That's why him being listed 80-1 at DraftKings feels like an obvious misprice. Take advantage of it now while you still can.
Jeremiah Smith (WR – Ohio State) | (+1600 via DraftKings) .8u
It’s not quite as much of a misprice, but DraftKings' 16-1 odds of Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith are still slightly longer than the 12-1 odds bet365 and FanDuel has him listed at.
The top-ranked overall prospect of the 2024 class made his presence felt as a true freshman, finishing with 1,315 receiving yards (fourth-most in the country and first in the Big Ten) and 15 receiving touchdowns (second-most in the country and first in Big Ten). This was while sharing the field with projected first-round NFL Draft pick WR Emeka Egbuka and two top running back prospects, TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.
Sure, WR Carnell Tate returns after posting 733 receiving yards of his own as a sophomore, and West Virginia transfer RB CJ Donaldson joins the mix. However, this offense will very much run through Smith. In place of Will Howard under center will be QB Julian Sayin, a former five-star prospect who transferred from Alabama following Nick Saban's retirement.
Smith's Heisman Trophy stock could begin to rise as soon as Week 1 when the Buckeyes face the Texas Longhorns at home, a rematch of the Cotton Bowl Classic. That's why I suggest getting invested now before the 19-year-old's odds shrink.
Seth Woolcock is a featured writer and host at BettingPros. For more sports betting and fantasy sports analysis from Seth, check out In-Between Media & follow him on X/Twitter @Between_SethFF.