Alabama’s Jalen Milroe rolls into heavy Heisman favorite status

When Jalen Milroe announced last December that he was returning to Alabama for the 2024 season, he didn’t specifically mention the Heisman Trophy as a motivating factor.

If it weren’t already among his goals, Milroe can add it to his list after potentially enjoying his “Heisman moment” in Saturday’s 41-34 victory over bitter rival Georgia.

Milroe owned the fifth-shortest odds over the summer at +1500 at DraftKings. By last week he had moved into the third spot at +700 while watching Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Texas’ Quinn Ewers and Miami’s Cam Ward cycle through the top spot.

That spot now firmly belongs to Milroe. After accounting for four touchdowns against Georgia, he is now the +250 favorite — by far the shortest odds for any player this season through DraftKings. Milroe is followed by Ward (+500) and Colorado’s two-way star Travis Hunter, who had shot from +2000 last week to +700 by Monday.

HEISMAN TROPHY ODDS*
PLAYER, TEAM, JULY ODDS, WEEK 1, CURRENT
Jalen Milroe, Alabama, +1500, +1100, +250
Cam Ward, Miami, +2200, +950, +500
Travis Hunter, Colorado, N/A, N/A, +700
Ashton Jeanty, Boise State, N/A/, N/A, +1000
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon, +750, +800, +1400
Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee, +1800, +1200, +1500
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss, +1400, +850, +1600
Quinn Ewers, Texas, +1000, +1400, +2000
Miller Moss, Southern California, N/A, +2200, +2500
Will Howard, Ohio State, +1500, +1600, +2500
Cade Klubnik, Clemson, N/A, N/A, +2800
Carson Beck, Georgia, +800, +900, +3000
Drew Allar, Penn State, N/A, N/A, +3500
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado, N/A, +2200, +4000
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU, +2200, +3500, +4000
Arch Manning, Texas, N/A, N/A, +4500
Riley Leonard, Notre Dame, N/A, N/A, +5500
*DraftKings

Milroe has now thrown for 964 yards with 10 touchdowns against a lone interception this season. He has added a pair of touchdowns on the ground in each of the Crimson Tide’s first four games while racking up 273 yards on the ground.

Hunter has the shortest odds among non-quarterbacks, and he moved up the list following Ewers’ injury and early-season upsets that include Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, who plummeted to +1600 from +850 following the Rebels’ loss to Kentucky on Saturday.

Also rocketing up the list of contenders was Jeanty, who moved from +1000 after the star Boise State running back rumbled for 259 yards and four scores in a blowout win over Washington State. Jeanty now has 845 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground through four games.

Conversely, Beck saw his Heisman hopes hammered after throwing three picks against the Crimson Tide, the last one significantly underthrown and ending the Bulldogs’ final drive in the end zone. After rising as high as +800 over the summer, Beck is now a +3000 Heisman longshot. That’s behind Ewers (+2000), who has missed Texas’ past two games.

–Field Level Media