At the end of the 2018 college football season two teams emerged as head and shoulders above the rest\u2014National Champions Clemson and the team they beat for the title, Alabama. In light of this it isn\u2019t surprising that players from these two college football powerhouses are the top betting choices for the 2019 Heisman Trophy. <\/p>\n
The Heisman Trophy is symbolic of the best player in college football at any position and dates back to 1935. Despite the fact that any position is eligible to win the award it has overwhelmingly been given to quarterbacks and running backs. The only primarily defensive player to win the award was Michigan\u2019s Charles Woodson in 1997. He also returned punts and occasionally lined up as a wide receiver meaning that no full time defensive player has ever won the Heisman Trophy. Two defensive specialists have finished second\u2014defensive end Hugh Green of Pittsburgh in 1980 and Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te\u2019o of Notre Dame in 2012. Woodson is also the last non-quarterback or wide receiver to win the award. Wide receivers Desmond Howard and Tim Brown have also also won the award along with tight ends Larry Kelley and Leon Hart.<\/p>\n
That trend should hold form this season as only two of the top 19 players are from a position other than quarterback or running back. The current favorite to win the Heisman Trophy is Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence who had a historic season as a true freshman. When the year began, Lawrence was backup for Kelly Bryant. Interestingly, Bryant is also on the \u2018short list\u2019 of Heisman candidates though he has since transferred to Missouri realizing that he had little chance of supplanting Lawrence. After Lawrence took over the starting job Clemson really started to reach top form. His defining performance came in the National Championship Game where Clemson beat Alabama 44-16 with Lawrence throwing for 347 yards and two touchdowns. Oddsmakers are expecting him to have another monster season and he\u2019s priced as a +350 favorite to take the Heisman Trophy.<\/p>\n
Right behind Lawrence is a pair of Alabama quarterbacks. You\u2019ll recall that Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban regularly used two quarterbacks during the 2018 season and with offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian returning there\u2019s a good chance he\u2019ll do the same in 2019.Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is the second favorite at +500 and Jalen Hurts is at +650.<\/p>\n
Lawrence, Tagovailoa and Hurts are the only betting interests available at single digit prices. They\u2019re followed by a half dozen players at +1200 including quarterback Adrian Martinez (Nebraska), running back D\u2019Andre Smith (Georgia), quarterback Jake Fromm (Georgia), running back Jonathan Taylor (Wisconsin), quarterback Justin Fields (Ohio State) and running back Travis Etienne (Clemson). <\/p>\n
Three more players are at +1600 including Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book, Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert and Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger. No other player is priced at odds shorter than +2500. The two \u2018non quarterbacks\/running backs\u2019 in the field are Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy at +2500 and Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore at +3300.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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