Heisman Trophy odds for C.J. Stroud, stats, projections, and more

The 2022 college football season is quickly approaching and we have preseason Heisman Trophy odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook. Today we’ll look at Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, who finished fourth in Heisman voting last season.

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook

Stroud enters the season as the Heisman Trophy frontrunner with +220 odds to win the award. He sits just ahead of Alabama quarterback and reigning Heisman winner Bryce Young at +380 and USC quarterback Caleb Williams at +700.

2021 Stats

Winning the starting job in fall camp last year, Stroud bursted onto the scene as a redshirt freshman and nearly rewrote the Ohio State record books. He completed 72% of his passes for 4,435 yards, 44 touchdowns, and just six interceptions. Those single-season yards and touchdown numbers were the second-most in program history behind Dwayne Haskins’ legendary 2018 season. He ended the campaign throwing for a school record 573 yards in the Buckeyes’ wild 48-45 victory over Utah in last year’s Rose Bowl.

Because of the year that he had, the Rancho Cucomonga, CA, native is already being projected as potentially the first quarterback taken off the board in the 2023 NFL Draft.

What does C.J. Stroud need to do to win the Heisman Trophy?

As the preseason frontrunner, Stroud’s path to the Heisman Trophy is pretty clear. Open the season with a strong performance against Notre Dame, carve through the Big Ten like he did last year with minimal hiccups, and get Ohio State back to the College Football Playoff. If he can check off all of those boxes, voters will hand him the award in December.