Same as he has been on the field, actually.
Not as if this is a shocker at all, but Tua Tagovailoa is seemingly the consensus favorite to win the 2018 Heisman Trophy by most everyone, including Bovada.lv in its latest set of updated stiff-armed odds. The numbers the true sophomore, first-year starting quarterback has put up through the first half of the Crimson Tide’s regular season, however, is Kazihiro-style looney tunes.
Currently, Tagovailoa leads the FBS in passing efficiency (258.4; the record for a season is Baker Mayfield‘s 198.7 a year ago), completion percentage (75.2), yards per attempt (14.8) and yards per completion (19.7). The talented Hawaiian has thrown nearly as many touchdowns (18) as he has incompletions (25) -- and he’s yet to throw an interception.
Most notably, Tagovailoa hasn’t taken a single snap in the fourth quarter of any of the first six games. Otherwise, his standing in touchdown passes (tied for sixth nationally) and passing yards per game (41st, 249.2) would likely be higher, particularly the latter category.
With that as a statistical backdrop, it’s not surprising in the least that Bovada has Tagovailoa listed as a prohibitive 2/3 favorite to win the 2018 Heisman Trophy, up from 10/11 a week ago. The next three players, all quarterbacks, behind Tagovailoa all have longer odds than they did Oct. 1 -- Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins (9/2, down from 15/4), Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray (7/1, down from 7/2) and West Virginia’s Will Grier (13/2, down from 11/2).
Tagovailoa’s current status as the front-runner should (maybe?) be taken with a grain of salt. Exactly one year ago today, Penn State running back Saquon Barkley was Bovada‘s betting favorite; Barkley ended up not even being a finalist for the 2017 award won by Mayfield. Then again, Lamar Jackson was an overwhelming favorite for the award in late September of 2016... and a sizable favorite in late October... before the Louisville quarterback went on to win that year’s trophy by a sizable margin over Clemson’s Deshaun Watson.
Anyway, below is the updated 2018 Heisman Trophy odds, courtesy again of Bovada.lv:
