Week 3 gave the Heisman race a jolt, but it also left plenty of the biggest Bowman Football names sitting in different places on the board. Texas’ roaring comeback against No. 1 Ohio State changed the shape of the top of the college football conversation, and with 2026 Bowman Football still a few weeks from release after last week’s pre-order, the hobby side is already starting to sort itself out.
Darian Mensah has grabbed the early lead in the Heisman conversation after hammering Stanford and Florida A&M, though the real measuring stick is still ahead. When Miami and Notre Dame meet later this season, that game is expected to function like an elimination matchup for the Heisman and should carry major weight on the card side too. Mensah already had his Bowman 1st in 2025 Bowman Chrome University, and he’ll be all over 2026 Bowman Football.
C.J. Carr is another name breakers are going to circle immediately.
2026 Bowman Football will be his first card, and he figures to stay near the top of the Heisman board after the product releases. The game won’t decide the College Football Playoff, but a win would help both the football and hobby cases.
Arch Manning’s stock keeps climbing after that comeback against Ohio State, and Texas now sits at No. 1. Manning will be the big NIL chase in 2026 Bowman Football, with his Bowman 1st, plus the SSP Anime and GPK.
There are also a few notable names with different card paths. Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith would belong in this Heisman discussion too, but he does not have a card in 2026 Bowman Football.
As for Hoover and Maiava, both already have Bowman 1sts from earlier releases. Hoover’s schedule gets a lot more interesting in late October and November with Ohio State, Michigan, and USC ahead, and he’ll come with a Spotlight, Crystalized, and his first autos in an Indiana jersey.
Maiava will have all the case hits except Anime, though he may not end up being the hobby chase his Heisman odds suggest.
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and Miami (Fl.) wide receiver Malachi Toney would fit in that same group if they had cards in 2026 Bowman Football.
Kamario Taylor has been one of the quieter Heisman names, and the hobby will likely treat him the same way when Bowman Football lands. He’s started the season on a tear, even if the competition has been UL-Monroe and Minnesota, and his numbers are hard to ignore: 581 passing yards, 145 rushing yards, and 8 combined touchdowns. Taylor will have a Spotlight and Crystalized, along with autos and an SSP auto.
Drew Mestemaker also forced his way back into the conversation with a huge outing in North Texas’ upset of No. 6 Oregon.
After what he did with North Texas in 2025, Saturday looked like the same player all over again. Mestemaker will have his Bowman 1st, most of the case hits except Anime, and a triple autograph with Carr and the final prospect.
That final name is Jaron-Kaewe Sagapolutele. Cal got off to a rough start with a blowout loss to UCLA, and Sagapolutele has been uneven much of the season, even in a comeback win over Syracuse.
He still remains in the Heisman mix despite having some of the longest odds, and he’s still one of the biggest chases in 2026 Bowman Football because of the preseason buzz. He’ll have his Bowman 1st, all of the main case hits and SSPs, and that triple auto with Drew Mestemaker and CJ Carr.
In Other News...
Texas Just Delivered The Kind Of Win That Changes Everything
A September showdown with Ohio State ended up looking like the kind of early-season measuring stick Texas has spent years chasing, and it came with a comeback that instantly put the Longhorns in the center of the national conversation. The victory also carried the sort of reach that only high-end marquee games can produce, with television numbers that reflected just how many people wanted to see these teams meet.
The backdrop matters because this was not just a one-off upset or a tidy nonconference win. Several college football and program records fell along the way, giving Texas a result that resonated well beyond the final score and hinted at how quickly the mood around the season can change when a game of this size breaks the right way. [Read more 🡒]
Jeff Traylor Keeps Producing Talent Texas Fans Know All Too Well
Jeff Traylor has built UTSA into one of the Group of Sixs more reliable talent factories, and that reputation keeps resonating far beyond San Antonio. The Roadrunners have watched plenty of players move on through the transfer portal to Power Four programs, a sign that Traylor and his staff have become adept at spotting and developing prospects before bigger schools come calling.
Trey Moore is one of the clearest examples of that pipeline at work. He arrived at UTSA as an unheralded prospect, grew into a productive player under Traylor, and then kept climbing from there, eventually landing at Texas before continuing his rise to the next level. For Longhorn fans, it is another reminder that Traylor has a knack for identifying talent that can travel well once it leaves his program. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Is Chasing College Footballs Elite With A Price Tag Few Can Match
College footballs financial arms race keeps getting louder, and a new Athletic report on roster spending puts the sports biggest players into sharper focus. The survey identifies 11 programs spending around $40 million or more annually, with Ohio State out front and Oregon close behind, while Texas and LSU sit in that same upper tier of heavy investment. Even in a landscape where some lower-profile programs are working with far smaller budgets, the gap at the top keeps widening.
For Texas, the takeaway is less about a surprise than a reminder of where the Longhorns now live in the sport. The report places them among the teams operating at or near the top of the spending board, in the same conversation as the Buckeyes and Ducks, which helps explain why the stakes around roster building have become so high. The broader question, though, is whether that level of spending can translate into the kind of playoff consistency the biggest checkbooks are clearly chasing. [Read more 🡒]