Legendary College Football Coach Urban Meyer made his selection for who he believes will win the 2026 Heisman Trophy.
The quarterbacks in 2026 are going to dominate the headlines all year in College Football.
There are so many good teams and so many good quarterbacks, so as we look ahead to next year's postseason awards, who has the inside track at winning the Heisman Trophy?
According to Las Vegas, the front-runners are CJ Carr (+800), Arch Manning (+950), Josh Hoover (+1100), and then Jeremiah Smith, Julian Sayin, and Dante Moore are all tied for fourth (+1300).
Vegas is betting on the brands that these other guys play for; former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer is betting on the guy who he believes will play the best.
"Yeah, I'm going to go with Dante Moore. He came back, he could have went to the NFL. I love the kid, I love his staff. I think Oregon is going to be right there at the end again."
By all accounts, Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has a great head on his shoulders. All throughout the year, head coach Dan Lanning challenged him week after week to lead the team both vocally and by his play.
As he was challenged by his coach, he answered the bell nearly every single time.
The hype around Moore is real, but that is not to say that he was a polished player last year. He finished the season with 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He had three games of over 300 yards, and six times he threw three or more touchdowns.
The good was good; there were also a couple of bad games mixed in there as well. He struggled in bad weather against Wisconsin and Iowa, and twice against Indiana; he didn't have his best stuff.
There is so much room for improvement for Moore to become a more polished player and a better quarterback. He will have to do that in what might be the most competitive and deep season in recent college football memory.
One of the positive consequences of the NIL era is that in this day and age, it actually makes sense for a player to return to college as opposed to going to the NFL. Had Moore been in college 15 years ago, he would have absolutely left to go to the NFL so he could cash in on his success.
Now, he can stay in college, continue to develop, while not sacrificing too much financially.
Moore has a chance to lead the Ducks to a deep postseason run next year, and if he does that, he will have a very good chance at hoisting the Heisman Trophy.
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