We’re months away from the start of the 2025 college football season and Travis Hunter’s Heisman trophy was only handed out weeks ago, but it’s never too early to look at what’s ahead. Here’s a way-too-early look at the potential Heisman contenders in 2025.
The potential returnees
As of the pre-Christmas writing of this article, we’re still waiting on some NFL draft declarations ahead of the January 6 deadline. That means quarterbacks with College Football Playoff experience like Cade Klubnik (Clemson), Quinn Ewers (Texas) and Jalen Milroe (Alabama) all could return to school.
Another quarterback to keep an eye on is Syracuse’s Kyle McCord. Per reports, the signal-caller who finished 10th in Heisman voting in 2025 is trying to get an additional year of eligibility.
Beyond the quarterback position, Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson is another top Heisman candidate, if he returns to college. Any of the five would make this list if they are back in college in 2025.
MORE: Travis Hunter wins 2024 Heisman Trophy
Defense
In 2024, we saw Travis Hunter become the first defensive player to win the Heisman since Charles Woodson, albeit with plenty of help on his resume from Hunter’s time as a starting wide receiver. Are there any defensive players that could be the next to lift the hardware?
I think so. The top defensive Heisman candidate is Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. Downs has been arguably the best safety in college football since he first laced up his cleats for Alabama as a true freshman in 2023. In 2025, he’s the only returning finalist for the Bednarik Award (College Football Defensive Player of the Year) and the Thorpe Award (College Football Defensive Back of the Year).
Downs is elite on the defensive side of the football. He also has an X-factor that could launch him into the Heisman race — his ability to return punts. Downs took a punt back to the end zone against Indiana. More of the same in 2025 could bring him in New York.
HEISMAN HISTORY: Top three finishers all-time | Closest voting finishes | Teams with most winners
Offensive skill positions
A few elite players on offense enter 2025 with a legitimate shot to prevent quarterbacks from winning the Heisman. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love is the top candidate from the backfield. Love rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2024 and gained 100 yards in Notre Dame’s first round College Football Playoff game. His hurdle against USC drew national attention and could be a sign of Heisman-worthy moments to come in the future.
At wide receiver, we can look at a pair of elite freshmen looking to make a sophomore leap. Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith is the only returning semifinalist for the Walter Camp Award. Smith rewrote Ohio State’s freshman receiving record book and should get more targets now that Emeka Egbuka is gone to the NFL.
Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams also had a fantastic freshman season. He joined Smith as a Bilitnekoff semifinalist — an award going to the top wide receiver in college football. Williams was only 17 when he started the 2024 season, and as he matures and fills out his frame he’ll only get better.
The quarterbacks
No list looking at Heisman trophy contenders would be complete without quarterbacks. 20 of the last 25 Heisman winners have played the position, meaning 80 percent of 21st-century Heisman winners have been quarterbacks. Here’s a look at the top quarterback candidates.
The transfers
The transfer portal is far from settled since it’s before Christmas, but as of now, two quarterbacks could carry the newest December tradition.
What tradition do you ask? The transfer and win the Heisman tradition of course! Six of the last eight years a former transfer has won the Heisman trophy.
The top transfer candidate to keep the tradition going is John Mateer, the newest quarterback at Oklahoma. Mateer played for Washington State in 2024 where he threw for over 3000 yards and 29 touchdowns. Yet, Mateer isn’t your normal quarterback transfer. He’s transferring to Oklahoma where he won’t have to learn a new offense since the Sooners hired 29-year-old offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle from Washington State. That could be the perfect recipe for instant success in Norman, where four quarterbacks have won the Heisman and eight quarterbacks have finished as finalists in the 21st century.
Beyond Mateer, keep an eye out for Zach Calzada at Kentucky. Calzada transferred to the Wildcats after throwing for 3,791 yards and 35 touchdowns at UIW in the FCS. Calzada finished fourth in voting for the Walter Payton Award in 2024 — the Heisman trophy of the FCS. While Calzada hasn’t played at the FBS level in a few years, remember that in 2024 Travis Hunter, Cam Ward, Cam Skattebo and Shedeur Sanders all finished in the top eight of Heisman voting after playing in the FCS.
MORE HEISMAN: Active NFL Heisman winners | Heisman CFP performances | Heisman top draft picks
The wildcards
Two ACC quarterbacks stand out as wildcards or dark horses in this way-too-early 2025 Heisman preview. SMU’s Kevin Jennings is the first to come to mind here. We all saw how Jennings looked flustered like a kid playing against EA College Football’s stadium pulse on a video game when the Mustang signal-caller played Penn State in the College Football Playoff. However, Jennings still got SMU to the postseason. If Jennings can learn from the CFP game and build off of a year where SMU only lost one regular-season game, then he could be in Heisman talks.
Georgia Tech’s Haynes King is also a wildcard. King upset Florida State in Ireland to open the season and drew national attention before we knew the Seminoles would be one of the worst ACC teams. He also led an upset of then-No. 6 Miami and pushed SEC Champion Georgia to eight overtimes. King has what it takes to deliver in big moments. The key for him in 2025 is to stay healthy enough to lead Georgia Tech to wins.
The unknowns
There are a few unknowns at the quarterback position in 2025 that could have breakout campaigns. Before you think, “someone won’t come out of nowhere to win the Heisman,” let me remind you of redshirt freshman Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston.
That said, Ohio State's Julian Sayin is one to watch. Sayin was the No. 3 quarterback recruit in the class of 2024, initially enrolling at Alabama before transferring to Ohio State. Sayin has sat and watched for a year and could be ready for a great year if he plays with a talented Buckeye roster.
Two quarterbacks who transferred but sat behind veterans in 2024 are Oregon’s Dante Moore and Georgia’s Jaden Rashada. Moore is in a great program for quarterbacks at Oregon as the last two starters have finished third in Heisman voting. Rashada was a highly-touted quarterback who went from Florida to Arizona State to now the Bulldogs.
Lastly there’s the lone true freshman on the list — Michigan’s Bryce Underwood. Underwood is the top quarterback recruit in the nation and he’s headed to a qb-needy Wolverine team that finished second-to-last in the Big Ten for passing. Michigan will only be two years removed from a national championship and if the hometown kid can right the ship in year one, he could be in the Heisman race.
For all of the quarterbacks above, they have to be where their feet are first and win the starting job in the offseason. But if they are the starters, they have enough talent to be in the Heisman conversation.
The sophomores
This next set of quarterbacks could take the next step with a year of playing experience under their belts.
Starting in the SEC, Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava led the Vols to the College Football Playoff in his first full season as a starter as a redshirt freshman. Much will be made of Iamaleava’s numbers this offseason, most notably who his passing stats came against. Iamaleave finished with 19 touchdowns to five interceptions, but threw for zero touchdowns against Ohio State, Georgia, Florida and Arkansas, with just one touchdown against Alabama. Nonetheless, the potential is there if Iamaleave can perform better in big-time games.
LaNorris Sellers helped lead South Carolina to the edge of the College Football Playoff bubble in his first year as a starter as a redshirt freshman. The dynamic quarterback accounted for 17 passing touchdowns and seven rushing touchdowns. If the Gamecocks are competing for an SEC title, he’ll be a Heisman contender.
We’ll move on to the true sophomores in 2025 but stay in the SEC. That’s where Florida’s DJ Lagway stands out. Lagway went 5-0 as a starter in games he finished, with his only loss as a starter coming against Georgia where he had the Gators leading the eventual SEC champs 10-3 before leaving with an injury in the second quarter. Lagway will have to navigate a treacherous schedule next year, but if he comes out on top, it could be Heisman worthy.
Nebraska’s Baby Mahomes, better known as Dylan Raiola, showed flashes of why he was one of the top quarterback recruits as a true freshman. If Raiola’s talent can translate to winning — the Cornhuskers lost five of their last six games in 2024 — he could put up great numbers.
Closing out the true freshman who could take the next step is NC State’s CJ Bailey. Bailey accounted for 19 touchdowns after taking over as NC State’s starter in Week 4. He could be a dark horse contender out of the ACC.
The top contenders
Now it’s time for the top Heisman contenders at the quarterback position entering 2025. Three quarterbacks stand out above the rest: Penn State’s Drew Allar, Texas’ Arch Manning and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier.
Drew Allar led Penn State to the College Football Playoff in 2024. The Nittany Lions should be a playoff contender again in 2025, and if Allar can continue his development as a passer, he could be one of the top quarterbacks in the country.
Arch Manning will draw plenty of headlines from his name alone next year. He’s also earned them based on his performance in limited starts in 2024. Manning went undefeated as a starter during the regular season. He’ll try to surpass his grandfather Archie (3rd, 1970), his uncle Peyton (2nd, 1997) and uncle Eli (3rd, 2003) to become the first Manning to win the Heisman.
Closing out the list is Garrett Nussmeier. He’s arguably the front-runner for the Heisman in 2025. Nussmeir finished second in the SEC in passing yards and touchdowns last season. The Tigers lost four games in 2024, but if Nussmeier and crew can win more games down the stretch, he could join Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels as recent Heisman winners in the Bayou.
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