Not that he cares about anything other than his team’s success, but Trevor Lawrence‘s sophomore season hasn’t been the best individually.
Entering the 2019 campaign as one of two heavy Heisman front-runners -- and following a 2018 season that had some clamoring in the offseason for the most NFL-ready sophomore quarterback ever to sit out the next two college football seasons to protect his 2021 draft stock -- Lawrence has failed to find the form that made him a freshman sensation a year ago as, in five games, he has totaled eight touchdowns and five interceptions (none in the past two games, it should be noted) in completing nearly 60 percent of his passes; a year ago, in 15 games, it was 30 touchdown passes and four picks with a completion percentage of just over 65 percent.
Last week, we noted that the Clemson quarterback’s odds, at 3/1 late in the offseason, had not only lengthened to 12/1 but had put him behind four other players according to one offshore sportsbook’s odds for the 2019 Heisman Trophy. In the latest set of odds released by the same book, Lawrence is now listed at 22/1.
Six players now have better odds, including Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who remains the slight favorite at 7/4, the same that he was seven days ago. Three other quarterbacks follow Tagovailoa: Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts (9/5, shortened from 7/2 Sept. 23), LSU’s Joe Burrow (4/1, down slightly from 3/1) and Ohio State’s Justin Fields (5/1, shortened considerably from 9/1). Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor is the highest non-quarterback at 10/1 (16/1), while Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm sits at 20/1 (14/1).
At 33/1, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger is the only other player listed as a handful of players, six to be exact, have been taken off the board.
It should be noted that, almost exactly a year ago at this time, Tagovailoa was a heavy Heisman favorite with 6/5 odds; the then-sophomore was a “gargantuan” favorite in early November as well. The player who went on to win the 2018 Heisman, Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, was fourth in those late-September set of odds at 8/1 and second at 6/1 a month and a half later.
Just saying, is all.
