Week 5 has a way of clearing the fog, and that’s exactly what’s happening in the Heisman race. The preseason chatter was crowded with names like Arch Manning and Dante Moore, but the picture has changed fast. What looked like a wide-open race is starting to narrow, and five players are separating themselves from the rest.
At the top of that list is Jeremiah Smith, and the Ohio State wide receiver is making the Heisman conversation feel a little less traditional by the week. He’s sitting on 44 catches for 823 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2026, and the Buckeyes star now owns the program records in every receiving stat.
The production has been outrageous enough that he’s outpacing the last true wide receiver Heisman season, DeVonta Smith. If he keeps doing this, the trophy is going to be hard to pry away.
The quarterback who might be closest to challenging him is Keelon Russell, and Alabama’s redshirt freshman is turning heads in a hurry. Russell has completed 94 of 132 passes for 1,414 yards, added 184 rushing yards, and accounted for 15 total touchdowns with 2 interceptions.
He’s got Alabama off to a 5-0 start, and the next week could change everything with a huge matchup against Georgia. If Russell puts up the kind of numbers that come with that stage, he could jump right to the front.
Darian Mensah is another quarterback whose efficiency keeps him in the mix. The Miami signal-caller has gone 112-for-133, good for an 84.21% completion rate, while throwing for 1,428 yards, adding 79 rushing yards, and piling up 16 total touchdowns.
The ACC’s chaos may work in his favor, even if he’s been held under 250 yards in each of his last two conference games. With elite weapons around him, he still has a path to huge statistical weeks while other contenders run into tougher tests.
CJ Carr has also done enough to stay in the Heisman picture. Notre Dame lost two 1st-round picks at running back to the NFL Draft, and Carr has responded by carrying more of the offense.
His 2026 line stands at 88 completions on 124 attempts for 1,197 yards, 28 rushing yards, 16 total touchdowns, and 1 interception. The Irish still have big games ahead, which gives him chances to land the kind of Heisman moment that can change a race in a hurry.
Then there’s Gunner Stockton, who has quietly built a strong case while Georgia has rolled through an easier five-game stretch. Stockton has completed 77 of 102 passes for 1,049 yards, added 122 rushing yards, and thrown for 13 touchdowns with 1 interception.
Georgia hasn’t been tested yet, which has helped the Bulldogs stay under the radar. But the upcoming game against Alabama is the kind of spot that can launch a player into the center of the conversation.
Stockton hasn’t leaned on his legs as much as he has in the past, and if that dual-threat element shows up in SEC play, it only strengthens his case.
In Other News...
Kirby Smart Seemed To Send A Message In Georgias Vanderbilt Win
Jared Curtis did not suit up in Vanderbilts recent meeting with Georgia after the quarterback, who had flipped his commitment from the Bulldogs to the Commodores last year, was injured. Georgia handled the game the way a team trying to stay in the thick of the national title race needed to, while Vanderbilt came away with its season outlook looking far less secure than the one in Athens.
Afterward, Curtis made his way toward Kirby Smart, setting up a moment that drew attention for what happened as much as what did not. Smarts body language suggested he was not eager to linger, and the interaction felt like the sort of understated sideline scene that can say plenty without anyone having to say much at all. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Left Vanderbilt With Two Concerns Alabama Will Test
Georgia left Nashville with a win and a cleaner record, but not a clean bill of health on the details that usually travel with them into bigger games. The Bulldogs beat Vanderbilt 38-14 to move to 5-0, and Carson Beck turned in another efficient day by completing 25 of 32 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Even so, the outing had the kind of uneven stretches Georgia cannot ignore when the schedule sharpens, especially with the ground game not finding much rhythm.
The defense also had its lapses, most notably on third downs, and Alabama is the sort of opponent that tends to expose those cracks quickly. Georgia did settle in after halftime and looked more like itself down the stretch, but next weekend brings a far sterner test of whether those second-half corrections can carry over. For a team that has mostly handled business through September, the trip to face Alabama now feels less like a checkpoint and more like a revealing exam. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Is Already Pressing Georgia On One Concern Before Alabama
Vanderbilt kept things interesting for a half before Georgia pulled away for a 38-14 win, scoring the final 17 points to close it out. Clark Lea had reasons to point to some progress on the Commodores side, especially in protection and the run game, while Kirby Smart came away talking about the kind of things he likes to see from his own team this time of year: conditioning, execution and the steadier finish that can matter when the schedule tightens.
Smarts focus now turns quickly to Alabama, and it sounds like he is already sharpening one concern before that matchup arrives. Even after a comfortable win, Georgia is still looking to clean up areas that can become costly against a better opponent, and Smart did not hide that there is more work to do before the next test. [Read more 🡒]