2026 Heisman Trophy stock watch: Miami superstars surge while Jeremiah Smith's path to the award narrows

Malachi Toney and Darian Mensah are the clear frontrunners as Julian Sayin's injury could prove costly to Smith's hopes Nov 2, 2026 at 11:40 am ET • 4 min read We've officially entered the final month of the regular season in college football. That means the country's best players have just a few more weeks to build their case for the Heisman Trophy.Two superstar Miami teammates, Malachi Toney and Darian Mensah, have the inside track for the award on the heels of a monster October. No one has been able to guard Toney, and he could reach 20 receiving touchdowns by Thanksgiving weekend. No quarterback has been more accurate than Mensah, who also leads the nation in passing touchdowns.Yes, Toney and Mensah will inevitably split votes, but that may not matter because of the new offensive environment around Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. With freshman Luke Fahey at quarterback, Smith ultimately got his numbers, but it wasn't a pretty performance from the Buckeyes as a whole. Can Smith do just enough to hold off Toney and Mensah down the stretch?LSU Sam Leavitt has been working his way back into the conversation, but he needs to close with a strong November if he wants any chance at the award. Likewise, Notre Dame C.J. Car has one shot to make a big impression on voters this weekend against Toney, Mensah and Miami. Here is where the Heisman Trophy race stands as we enter November.Stock up Malachi Toney, WR, MiamiToney is coming off one of his least productive games of the season -- seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns against North Carolina. What a slacker. Toney has already crossed the 1,000-yard mark with four games remaining in the regular season, and he leads the ACC in every major receiving category. On top of that, Toney has blown past the 10 touchdowns he scored last season with 13 to this point. That's a 12-game pace of 19. Now also seems like a good time to remind everyone that Toney is only a sophomore, which means he will be back to terrorize college defensive backs again next year. Darian Mensah, QB, MiamiSometimes when schools shell out big money for a star quarterback, that investment doesn't pay off. In this case, there's probably an argument that Mensah is underpaid. Mensah remains the most accurate quarterback in the country, completing 80.7% of his passes, but he also leads all FBS quarterbacks in touchdown passes with 25. His 2,425 yards are tops in the ACC. The trouble that Mensah has is that he throws to the other Heisman Trophy favorite. How will those votes be split? That's a question for December. Both Mensah and Toney can make their case for voters against Notre Dame this weekend. Sam Leavitt, QB, LSUAn early rash of turnovers prevented Leavitt's Heisman Trophy campaign from blasting off immediately, but he's steadily worked his way back to the fringe of the conversation. Over his last two games, albeit against Auburn and Mississippi State, Leavitt has thrown for 677 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for one more. Perhaps most importantly, Leavitt hasn't thrown an interception. He still has a lot of work to do, but Leavitt is about to get three great chances to grab voters' attention with games against Alabama, Texas and Tennessee over the next three weeks. Nate Sheppard, RB, DukeSheppard should still be considered a long shot to reach New York, but he must be mentioned here. Coming off a five-touchdown performance against Boston College, Sheppard proved once again that he is the Duke offense. His 18 total touchdowns from scrimmage lead the country, and they account for 58.1 percent of the Blue Devils' 31 offensive touchdowns this season. The yardage hasn't quite been there for Sheppard over the last few weeks, but he still leads the ACC with 972 yards and will get marquee matchups against Miami and Wake Forest in November.Holding steady C.J. Carr, QB, Notre DameWhat holds Carr back is the fact that he doesn't put up gaudy numbers on a weekly basis, and that is at least partially due to Notre Dame cruising against most of its opponents. We thought the soft schedule would hurt Carr's candidacy coming into the season, and it has so far. Still, Carr has been extremely efficient through the air, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio of 18-1 is pristine. If Carr wants serious consideration for the Heisman Trophy, however, he needs a big game against Miami on Saturday. After seeing what Billy Edwards Jr. did to a suspect Miami secondary, Carr is plenty capable of putting up the type of numbers that typically elude him.Stock down Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio StateDon't get this confused with Smith being out of the race entirely; he's still very much a favorite to win the award. The issue is that the Ohio State offense put up just 18 points against USC's defense with Luke Fahey at quarterback. As to be expected, the entire unit took a step backward with a freshman running the show, and that includes Smith. The final stat line for Smith -- 10 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown -- wasn't terrible for his standards. However, most of that production came in garbage time as Fahey spammed Smith with underneath throws. That doesn't seem like a sustainable path to the Heisman. Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ole MissChambliss needed to bounce back after a rough performance against Texas, and he did. Chambliss posted 328 total yards and three total touchdowns in a blowout win over Auburn. Still, Chambliss is on a two-loss team with no margin for error in the College Football Playoff race. Neither of the Rebels' losses can be laid at the feet of Chambliss, but he didn't exactly help his Heisman Trophy case either. The good news for the Ole Miss quarterback is that he has one shot remaining to find that signature Heisman moment: A primetime showdown against Georgia on Saturday night. If Chambliss torches the Bulldogs, he could work his way back into the conversation.Off the boardJadan Baugh, RB, FloridaArch Manning, QB, TexasJosh Hoover, QB, IndianaKamario Taylor, QB, Mississippi StateKeelon Russell, QB, Alabama