Heisman Trophy Betting Odds: Boykin, Elliott Lead College Football Props

Will college football’s best quarterback win the Heisman Trophy for the sixth year in a row? That’s the key question bettors have to ask themselves before they wager on the 2015 winner based on past history and the latest betting odds.

The two co-favorites are senior quarterback Trevone Boykin of the TCU Horned Frogs and junior running back Ezekiel Elliott of the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes at 5-1 at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Boykin was one of the most electrifying players in the country last year, passing for 3,901 yards and rushing for 707 more to go along with 41 combined touchdowns through the air and on the ground.

The All-American signal caller saw his Horned Frogs fall just short of earning a berth in the College Football Playoff last season and leads one of the top contenders to win the title in 2015-16 at 13-2 odds.

The favorite to win the national championship are the Buckeyes at +260 (bet $100 to win $260) behind Elliott and quarterbacks J.T. Barrett (9-1 odds to win the Heisman) and Cardale Jones (14-1). The starting quarterback job is still up for grabs, as Jones stepped in late in the year when Barrett suffered a season-ending ankle injury.

Former starting quarterback Braxton Miller (33-1) was in the mix as well before he switched positions to wide receiver. But it was Elliott who exploded onto the scene during the team’s title run, finishing with 1,878 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns, with 696 and eight, respectively, coming in the last three games.

The last running back to win the Heisman was Mark Ingram of the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2009, and prior to that it was Ron Dayne of the Wisconsin Badgers in 1999. Reggie Bush of the USC Trojans initially won it in 2005 before it was taken away because he was found guilty of taking improper benefits while in school.

A couple of other running backs worth a look as dark-horse picks on the odds to win the Heisman are sophomores Nick Chubb (12-1) of the Georgia Bulldogs and Leonard Fournette (12-1) of the LSU Tigers. Both players have the advantage of playing in the SEC and will be the best players for their respective schools in 2015.

Chubb takes over full-time for the departed Todd Gurley, while Fournette should be primed for a breakthrough year after heading to LSU as the top recruit in the nation a season ago as a freshman.