The 2026 Heisman Trophy Race Has Seven Names You Need to Know

One of the most dominant players in college football is a wide receiver. Could this be the season a non-quarterback wins the coveted award?

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is one of the top NFL prospects this season and a Heisman Trophy contender. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Heisman Trophy has a reputation for being a bit predictable, and in some ways, that is fair. Since 2000, 20 of the 26 winners of the award have been quarterbacks. It takes a truly groundbreaking season from a player at another position to break through against the year’s top signal-callers.

The winners of the award, however, aren’t always so obvious. Fernando Mendoza joined Indiana with some hype coming off of a solid season for Cal in 2024, but few would peg him as the nation’s best player entering ’25. Colorado’s Travis Hunter entered ’24 with some Heisman hype given the magnitude of what he was attempting—to play a full season at two high-leverage positions. He was among the best cornerbacks and wide receivers in all of FBS and won the Heisman as a result. Even the ’23 winner, Jayden Daniels, was in the discussion entering the season, but it wasn’t until midway through the fall, after an electric run of four-touchdown games, that he truly took control of the race.

As a result, predicting the Heisman race can be a fool’s errand. Entering the season, we have a decent idea of which players profile as potential winners, but a key injury or an expected superstar turn for an opportunistic transfer can upend the discussion in a few weeks’ notice. But entering 2026, these seven established stars—not all of whom play quarterback—stand out as we prepare for Week Zero to begin.

CJ Carr (Jr.), QB, Notre Dame

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr averaged 9.4 yards per attempt last season. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The 2025 Fighting Irish offense was largely built around the talents of running back Jeremiyah Love, a Heisman Trophy finalist and All-American, giving Carr room to grow under center. Granted, the talented young signal-caller didn’t need much time to impress as QB1. Even in the back-to-back losses to Miami and Texas A&M to open the season, Carr played with a rare poise for a quarterback his age. By the end of the season, he’d led the Fighting Irish to 10 consecutive wins and finished with 2,741 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions, averaging an impressive 9.4 yards per attempt.

Trinidad Chambliss (R-Sr.), QB, Ole Miss

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss will get a full season to top an impressive 2025. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Chambliss, a former Division II star at Ferris State, came out of nowhere to become one of the most exciting quarterbacks in college football last fall, stepping in for the injured Austin Simmons early in the season and delivered Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff semifinals amid the turmoil left by Lane Kiffin’s departure. Chambliss declined to follow him to LSU and landed a crucial court injunction allowing him to play a full season with the Rebels. If he manages to build on a season in which he threw for 3,937 yards, 22 touchdowns and three interceptions along with 527 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground, he’ll be in the mix to head to New York. 

Arch Manning (Sr.), QB, Texas

Texas quarterback Arch Manning had a strong close to the 2025 season and is hoping to build off it in ’26. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Last offseason’s Manning hype cycle proved to be way overblown, as he struggled to begin his first full season as a starting quarterback, launching a wave of criticism to match. After he fell out of Heisman talks, Manning put together a strong end to the season, averaging 285.7 passing yards per game with 14 touchdowns and just two interceptions over his last six games. He also ran for five touchdowns in that span, and went off for 155 yards on the ground in a bowl win over Michigan. Texas added perhaps the second-best wide receiver in college football, Cam Coleman from Auburn, this offseason, giving Manning the best weapon he’s had in college.

Dante Moore (Sr.), QB, Oregon

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore threw for 30 touchdowns last season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Had Moore left for the NFL draft, he may have challenged Mendoza as the potential No. 1 pick. Instead, he’ll return to Oregon to build on what was a very impressive first full year as starter. The former UCLA transfer sat behind Dillon Gabriel in 2024 before ascending to the starting job, and threw for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last fall. His play trailed off in the College Football Playoff against the rugged Texas Tech defense and eventual national champion Indiana but he was far from the reason for the Ducks’ blowout loss to the Hoosiers. Now, he enters what is likely his final college season with motivation to help Oregon finally clear the national title hurdle.

Leonard Moore (Jr.), CB, Notre Dame

Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore intercepted five passes last season, including this one that he returned for a TD against Syracuse. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

It is extremely difficult for a defensive player to win the Heisman, especially if they don’t moonlight as one of the nation’s best wide receivers, like Colorado’s Travis Hunter in 2024. If one breaks through, however, Moore is a solid bet. A true lockdown corner for the Fighting Irish, the All-American recorded 31 total tackles and picked off five passes in ’25, returning one for a touchdown. He’s defended 18 passes over his first two college seasons. The biggest obstacle, beyond the history of the increasingly quarterback-focused award: Will enough opposing offenses throw it in his direction to give him the chance at the gaudy stats necessary to be in the mix?

Julian Sayin (Jr.), QB, Ohio State

Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin completed 77% of his passes last season. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Like Carr, Sayin stepped in as starting quarterback for an Ohio State program coming off of a national championship—and with the talent and aspirations to win back-to-back. He displayed ruthless accuracy and efficiency as a redshirt freshman, completing a whopping 77% of his throws for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He and Jeremiah Smith are the nation’s most impressive quarterback-wide receiver duo—a fact that may hurt both in Heisman voting, after Sayin finished fourth and Smith sixth in voting a year ago.

Jeremiah Smith (Jr.), WR, Ohio State

Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith is the latest in a long line of dominant WRs for the Buckeyes. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Buckeyes program has been an absolute wide receiver factory for years, and the aforementioned Smith may be the best one yet. After catching 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns as a true freshman, Smith faced even more attention as a sophomore without Emeka Egbuka lined up across the field and a pair of future NFL running backs behind. Still, he snagged 87 passes for 1,243 yards and 12 scores. He’s the most dominant wide receiver that college football has seen since DeVonta Smith’s Heisman campaign and is in the running for the top pick in the 2027 NFL draft.

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