The Heisman Trophy race usually starts with quarterbacks, and that’s no accident. Since 2000, 20 of the 26 winners have come from under center, which means the award has a way of narrowing itself before the season even begins. Still, the trophy rarely goes exactly where people expect it to go in August.
That’s why the early 2026 conversation has room for surprises, even if the list of contenders already feels fairly clear. A transfer can catch fire.
A quarterback can get hurt. A player at another position can force his way into the race with a season too loud to ignore.
For now, though, seven names stand out as Week Zero approaches.
Notre Dame’s CJ Carr is one of them. The Fighting Irish offense in 2025 was built around Jeremiyah Love, a Heisman Trophy finalist and All-American, which gave Carr a chance to settle in as the quarterback.
He didn’t waste much time showing he belonged. Even in back-to-back losses to Miami and Texas A&M to open the season, he looked remarkably composed for a young quarterback.
By the end of the year, Carr had helped Notre Dame reel off 10 straight wins and finished with 2,741 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions while averaging 9.4 yards per attempt.
Austin Simmons’ injury opened the door for Trinidad Chambliss at Ole Miss, and he turned that opening into one of the most striking breakout stories in the sport. The former Division II star at Ferris State stepped in early and guided the Rebels to the College Football Playoff semifinals during the upheaval that followed Lane Kiffin’s departure.
Chambliss declined to go with Kiffin to LSU, then won a key court injunction that allowed him to play a full season with Ole Miss. If he builds on last year’s numbers - 3,937 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, three interceptions, plus 527 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns - he’ll have a real shot at New York.
Arch Manning’s season began with far more noise than production. The preseason hype around him last offseason turned out to be overblown, and he drew a wave of criticism after a shaky start to his first full year as a starter.
But once he slipped out of the Heisman picture, he closed strong. Over his final six games, Manning averaged 285.7 passing yards per game with 14 touchdowns and two interceptions, and he added five rushing touchdowns in that stretch.
He also ran for 155 yards in a bowl win over Michigan. Texas has now added Cam Coleman from Auburn, whom the source describes as perhaps the second-best wide receiver in college football, giving Manning his best weapon yet.
At Oregon, Dante Moore chose the college route over the NFL draft and returns after a very strong first season as the full-time starter. The former UCLA transfer spent 2024 behind Dillon Gabriel before taking over and throwing for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last fall.
His play dipped against Texas Tech in the College Football Playoff and then again in the loss to eventual national champion Indiana, but he was not the reason Oregon was blown out by the Hoosiers. Now he enters what is likely his final college season with a clear goal: helping the Ducks finally get past the national title hurdle.
Defense almost never wins this award, especially without the added bonus of also being one of the country’s best receivers, like Travis Hunter was in 2024. Still, Leonard Moore has the kind of profile that at least keeps the door cracked.
The Notre Dame cornerback was an All-American in 2025, finishing with 31 total tackles and five interceptions, including one pick-six. Through his first two college seasons, he has defended 18 passes.
The obstacle is obvious: enough offenses may simply avoid him, which makes piling up the kind of numbers Heisman voters tend to notice a difficult task.
At Ohio State, Julian Sayin followed the same basic path Carr did - stepping into a national championship program with expectations to keep the machine rolling. He delivered with sharp, efficient play as a redshirt freshman, completing 77% of his passes for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
He and Jeremiah Smith form the nation’s most dangerous quarterback-wide receiver combination, though that partnership could work against both of them in Heisman voting. Sayin finished fourth last year, while Smith came in sixth.
Smith himself is the kind of receiver who can bend the whole sport around him. Ohio State has produced plenty of elite wideouts, but the source makes clear that Smith may be the best yet.
As a true freshman, he caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. With even more attention on him as a sophomore, and without Emeka Egbuka on the other side or a pair of future NFL running backs behind him, he still put up 87 receptions, 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns.
He’s being discussed as the most dominant receiver college football has seen since DeVonta Smith’s Heisman run, and he’s also in the mix to go No. 1 in the 2027 NFL draft.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Enters Wisconsin Week With Real Questions Still Lingering
With the season opener against Wisconsin drawing closer, Notre Dames latest look behind the curtain centered on the people who have spent the offseason shaping the roster and sharpening the plan. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and defensive coordinator Chris Ash joined players Cooper Flanagan, James Flanigan, Armel Mukam and Jasper Scaife to talk through roster depth, defensive ideas and the growth that has taken place since spring, all while the Irish work through their in-school practice schedule and try to turn offseason progress into something that will matter when the games count.
The session also underscored how much of this teams early-season identity may be tied to coaching expertise and player development rather than any one headline name. Notre Dame has reason to feel better about where it is entering the final stretch before kickoff, but the open question is how all of those moving parts hold up once Wisconsin is on the other sideline and the season starts putting answers on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Just Won A Legacy Battle That Nearly Slipped Away
Notre Dame added another important name to its 2027 recruiting class when Julius Jones Jr. made his commitment, keeping a legacy connection in South Bend alive. The 4-star wide receiver, son of former Irish running back Julius Jones, gives the program a familiar thread from one generation to the next, and his arrival also matters because he is ranked No. 77 in the class and has built a strong high school rsum along the way.
Jones admitted he had seriously weighed Oregon before settling on Notre Dame, which makes the decision feel like more than a routine pledge. For the Irish, the pull of the program clearly still carries weight in a recruiting fight where family ties help, but they do not guarantee the finish line, and that is what makes this one worth watching as the class takes shape. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Still Has A Troubling O-Line Question Before The Opener
With the season opener looming, Notre Dame is still sorting out a sizeable chunk of its offensive line, and that kind of late-August uncertainty is never ideal for a unit built on chemistry and timing. The Irish have multiple spots still open, and the staff is trying to settle the combination while also dealing with injuries that have complicated the picture.
Styles Prescod has become one of the more interesting names in that competition after working as a backup tackle before getting a look at right guard. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said Prescod is among several players in the mix for the starting lineup, which gives Notre Dame some flexibility but also underscores how much is still unresolved up front. [Read more 🡒]