Best bets for 2019 Heisman winner
The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook set the college football market back in motion after releasing their 2019 Heisman odds earlier in the week.
There aren't many identifiable trends to picking a Heisman winner. What we do know is this: The voters love quarterbacks who stuff the stat sheet in both the passing and rushing departments, which helped dual-threat Kyler Murray storm in late to top Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa this past season. Overall, quarterbacks have won eight of the previous nine Heisman trophies. Meanwhile, there have only been two players at +3300 or longer to win the award in the last decade - running back Mark Ingram in 2009 (33-1) and Lamar Jackson in 2016 (110-1).
Taking all that into account, here are three players who could earn the Heisman come the 2019 season.
Ohio State QB Justin Fields (12-1)
Georgia Bulldogs transfer Justin Fields is getting an awful lot of love for being somewhat of an unknown commodity, but there's no denying his ceiling is higher than most heading into the year. Behind Jake Fromm on the depth chart in Athens, Fields was used as a gadget quarterback, often in packages that called for designed runs. Despite playing sparingly, the former No. 2 high school prospect out of the 2018 class managed 6.3 yards per carry with four touchdowns. He added another 328 yards and four scores through the air.
Fields now has the keys to the car in what should be another quarterback-friendly system under new head coach Ryan Day. He'll be the most dynamic athlete on the field with a full season to do damage alongside five returning pass-catchers who contributed regularly last year. Add in his running ability and he'll get his fair share of yards and touchdowns.
Though he's hardly in "favorite" territory, Fields is ours at 12-1.
Michigan QB Shea Patterson (28-1)
Shea Patterson was grossly overpriced in the Heisman odds last season. The former Ole Miss star was an intriguing name playing in a balanced offensive system that suppressed quarterback production in Ann Arbor. However, Patterson still made plays on his own and offered Michigan a different element under center than it was accustomed to, finishing the year with 2,600 yards and 22 touchdowns. We expect a huge spike in his numbers with how the Wolverines will look in 2019.
The biggest change for the offense comes off the field with the hiring of Alabama offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who will occupy the same position under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Gattis was responsible for morphing the Crimson Tide into a vertical offense last season, resulting in Tagovailoa's 3,966 yards and 43 touchdowns. Michigan doesn't figure to have the same depth as the 2018 Crimson Tide receiving corps, but does return three mainstays on the outside with Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black, and Nico Collins.
Texas QB Sam Ehlinger (40-1)
Texas' Sam Ehlinger was pegged 40-1 at the SuperBook but is floating around at 12-1 in some offshore shops. However, you can still get him 30-1 in some places.
Although Ehlinger isn't the flashiest athlete, he's still enough of a dual-threat quarterback to register numbers in a variety of ways. He's coming off a season in which he totaled 482 yards and 16 scores on the ground to complement his 3,292 yards and 25 touchdowns through the air.
Ehlinger has plenty of skill players to feed the ball to in order to light it up next season. His top receiver is back after Collin Johnson chose to stick with the program instead of declaring for the NFL draft. The wideout now anchors a receiving corps that features Devin Duvernay (41 catches, 546 yards, three touchdowns in 2018) and incoming five-star, Bru McCoy.
Is Texas truly back? That remains to be seen. But Ehlinger is, and he should have the pieces in place for a huge season.
Alex Kolodziej is theScore's betting writer. He's a graduate of Eastern Illinois who has been involved in the sports betting industry for 11 years. He can quote every line from "Rounders" and appreciates franchises that regularly wear alternate jerseys. Find him on Twitter @AlexKoIodziej.