Week 4 is in the books, and the Heisman race is already starting to take shape around a handful of players who have been impossible to ignore.
Texas still sits No. 1 in the AP Top 25, with Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami and Ohio State right behind it. Indiana, Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and BYU complete the top 10. And while the team rankings keep shifting the spotlight, the individual performances have been loud enough to push certain names into early Heisman chatter.
At the top of that list is Miami quarterback Darian Mensah. In his first season as the Hurricanes’ starter, he has looked every bit the part of a star, powering Miami to a 4-0 start while throwing for 1,211 yards, 14 touchdowns and no interceptions.
He’s completing 88.7 percent of his passes and has added one rushing touchdown. That’s the kind of production that gets attention fast, and if he keeps rolling, he’s going to stay in the Heisman mix.
Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith is making his own case in a different way. Through the opening stretch, he has been one of the most dangerous players in the country, piling up 33 catches for 617 yards and seven touchdowns.
He’s already past 3,000 career receiving yards, and the numbers only tell part of the story. He can win in traffic, beat one defender or multiple defenders, and make just about any catch you can imagine.
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss took a hit in Saturday’s blowout loss to Florida, but his overall season still belongs in the conversation. He has thrown for 1,222 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions in four games.
His best outing came against LSU, when he put up 363 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He’s looking like one of the top quarterbacks in the country and could be a high pick in the 2027 NFL Draft if the rest of his season keeps moving in the same direction.
Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor deserves a lot more attention than he’s getting. He has been excellent, with 1,192 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions, and he has helped Mississippi State get off to a perfect 4-0 start that has the Bulldogs sitting No. 16 in the AP poll.
Taylor can attack every level of the field and is just as dangerous when plays break down outside the pocket. He’s got tougher tests ahead, but so far he has shown he can handle the load.
Rounding out the list is Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney, who makes sense here both because of his production and because of the way he and Mensah have formed a devastating tandem. Through four games, Toney has 34 receptions for 564 yards and six touchdowns, and he has been just as hard to slow down as Smith. The freshman burst onto the scene last season with 1,211 yards and 10 touchdowns, and he looks well on his way to topping that.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Just Got An Early Playoff Path Fans Will Study
ESPNs Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach took an early crack at sorting out the SEC postseason picture after Week 4, and the exercise offered a useful glimpse at where Ole Miss could be headed if the season keeps trending the way it has started. Their bowl projections covered 13 league teams and went beyond simple destination guessing, with possible matchups and playoff seedings factored into the mix as the conference race begins to take shape.
For Ole Miss fans, the appeal is obvious: this is the kind of early roadmap that invites a lot of second-guessing, especially with the two analysts not always landing on the same answer for several teams. South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Arkansas were left out of the projections entirely, but the more interesting part for the Rebels is how their own path stacks up against the rest of the SEC as the leagues bowl and playoff picture slowly comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Bye Week Just Got Bigger After A Troubling Defensive Wake-Up
Ole Miss heads into the bye week with a lot more to sort through than just a first loss. After the Rebels were run over in a 52-point outing by Florida, Pete Golding made it clear the defensive issues are too big to ignore, especially with the way the front seven handled the Gators on the ground. For a team that had spent the opening stretch looking like a real contender, this was the kind of performance that forces a reset.
The timing may help, because the staff now has extra days to clean up the run defense and get the unit back to the standard it set earlier in the season. Floridas Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark were among the backs who kept Ole Miss under constant pressure, and that kind of breakdown tends to linger if it is not addressed quickly. The Rebels do not have to play this weekend, but the concern coming out of Gainesville is the sort that can follow a team long after the bye ends. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Bye Week Could Reshape Two Key Rebels Roles
The bye week arrives at a useful moment for Ole Miss after the loss to Florida, giving the Rebels a little breathing room before the SEC grind picks back up. For a team still sorting through how best to use its pieces, extra practice time can be as important as rest, especially when it comes to players who have flashed enough to suggest bigger roles might be coming.
Jahiem Oatis is one of the more intriguing names on that list on defense, thanks to his size and upside, even if his snaps have been limited so far. On the other side, Johntay Cook II faces a different kind of climb, trying to carve out steadier opportunities in a crowded receiver room, and this week could go a long way toward showing whether either Rebel can turn potential into a more consistent place in the rotation. [Read more 🡒]