There is no greater individual honor in college football than the Heisman Trophy. Last year, Jayden Daniels took home the award with an incredible campaign with the LSU Tigers out of the SEC. It’s been 16 seasons since a Big Ten player hoisted the trophy (Troy Smith, Ohio State). In that time, new Big 10 programs Oregon and USC have boasted one each: Marcus Mariota in 2014; Caleb Williams in 2022. For 2024, there are a pair of Big 10 transfer signal-callers among the best odds to win the 2024 Heisman Trophy.
All odds are via FanDuel.
Gabriel, Howard Atop the Best Odds to Win 2024 Heisman Trophy
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon (+1000)
Dillon Gabriel‘s career has been eventful. 2024 will be his sixth season at the collegiate level and his third different team. Gabriel broke out as the quarterback of the UCF Knights. He threw for 7,233 yards and 61 touchdowns in his two full seasons at UCF. After leading the American conference in passing and scoring in 2020, the southpaw’s 2021 season was cut short due to an early injury. After the injury-shortened season, Gabriel hopped into the transfer portal and landed with the Oklahoma Sooners.
Gabriel was similarly successful with Oklahoma with 6,828 yards and 55 touchdowns over the last two seasons. He won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in his first season and Second-Team All-Big 12 honors. Last year, he improved to First-Team All-Big 12 while leading the conference in passing yards and touchdowns.
Oregon is primed to compete in the Big Ten and Gabriel is a massive piece of why. The Ducks were a win away from the four-team College Football Playoff with Bo Nix last year. This year, Gabriel can lead a loaded Oregon roster to at least an at-large bid in the 12-team CFP.
Gabriel only trails Georgia’s Carson Beck (+750) and Texas’ Quinn Ewers (+900) for the way-too-early odds for the Heisman Trophy. Considering Daniels was sitting at +1300 at this point in the process, it’s still wide open.
Will Howard, Ohio State (+1300)
The other top transfer quarterback handed the keys to a Lamborghini is new Ohio State signal-caller, Will Howard. Like with Oregon and Gabriel, Ohio State has set Howard up for success in 2024.
Howard joins the Buckeyes by way of Kansas State where he spent four years. As a freshman, Howard started seven games and finished with 1,178 yards and eight touchdowns. As a sophomore, only three starts and three other appearances totaled 332 yards and one score. Howard got his opportunity to truly lead a program in 2022 as he started five games with two other appearances. His 1,633 yards and 15 touchdowns helped lead his team to a Big 12 Championship and a berth in the Sugar Bowl. Howard is coming off his best season in 2023 where he amassed 2,643 yards and 24 touchdowns. In total, Howard brings 5,786 yards and 48 touchdowns to Columbus.
Quarterbacking at Ohio State comes with lofty expectations. Considering he’s fourth in the way-too-early odds for the Heisman Trophy, these are the highest expectations for Howard in his career.
More Big Ten Heisman Trophy Odds
Drew Allar (+4000) leads the way of the other Big Ten hopefuls with longshot Heisman Trophy odds. To this point, the talented Penn State quarterback has yet to live up to the five-star hype he garnered out of high school. Last year, in his full season at the helm, Allar passed for 2,631 yards and 25 touchdowns. The Nittany Lions are expecting a big jump from Allar in 2024 and their CFP hopes will lie with the junior quarterback.
Miller Moss (+4000) gets to fill the shoes left behind by Caleb Williams. Prior to his breakout performance in the Liberty Bowl, Moss had just 542 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 appearances to his name. Then, he dominated Louisville and showed that he was the man for the job moving forward. Now, Moss gets the reigns to a Lincoln Riley offense that has produced more Heisman Trophy quarterbacks than any over the last seven years.
Julian Sayin (+6000) and Dante Moore (+7500) are garnering a little hype ahead of the 2024 season even though they are likely, at best, second on their respective depth charts. Oddly enough, both of these quarterbacks are set to sit behind the first two mentioned.
Finally, Quinshon Judkins (+10000) is the second-best Heisman Trophy odds among non-quarterbacks. Only Colorado’s two-way star, Travis Hunter (+6500)) has better odds.
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