Heisman Finalists 2023: Odds, Predictions for Candidates' Order of Finish in the Race

Jayden Daniels has been viewed as the Heisman Trophy favorite for most of the week leading up to Saturday's ceremony.

However, the Heisman race took an interesting twist on Friday night, when Michael Penix Jr. won the Maxwell Award.

The Maxwell Award typically foreshadows which player will come home with the Heisman.

Eight of the last nine Heisman winners took first place in the Maxwell voting as well. The only difference came in 2018, when Tua Tagovailoa won the Maxwell and Kyler Murray captured the Heisman in 2019.

The lack of a unanimous Heisman favorite throughout the season may have led to Penix winning the Maxwell and that could produce one of the closest Heisman ballots in recent memory.

Daniels can still win the Heisman, but some doubt at least creeped into his award-winning conversation because of Penix's Maxwell victory.

The final Heisman odds can be found on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Daniels may not have won every award in the buildup to Saturday's Heisman ceremony, but he still has the best overall statistics among the four finalists.

Daniels finished with 3,812 passing yards, 1,134 rushing yards and 50 total touchdowns.

No one in college football was as dynamic as the LSU quarterback over three months, and that is what catapulted him to the top of the Heisman odds board by the end of last week.

Daniels benefited from Penix's average second half and Bo Nix's lackluster Pac-12 Championship Game performance. That should have earned him more first-place votes .

He did not come away empty-handed from Friday's college football awards ceremony. He won the Davey O'Brien Award given to the nation's best quarterback.

The only knock on Daniels is LSU's three-loss season, but that did not hinder Robert Griffin III or Lamar Jackson from winning the Heisman in 2011 and 2016, respectively.

Daniels was the most dynamic and explosive player in college football all season long, and he finished in incredible fashion with over 400 total yards in his last three games.

Even though Daniels did not win the Maxwell Award, he should come away with the Heisman.

The Heisman conversation at least gained a bit more drama when Penix was named the Maxwell Award winner on Friday.

The Washington quarterback beat out Daniels and Nix for that award, but he did lose the Davey O'Brien Award to his LSU counterpart.

The split of the top quarterback awards could just confirm that no quarterback ran away from the field for the full season in the awards conversations.

Penix is the only one of the four Heisman finalists with a conference championship. He led the Washington Huskies to a 13-0 campaign, a Pac-12 title and a College Football Playoff berth.

However, Penix's production slowed down after his first win over Oregon on October 14.

Penix only had three 300-yard performances in that seven-game stretch and threw more than two touchdown passes once.

Penix made a plethora of clutch plays to keep Washington undefeated, but he did not produce an overwhelming stat line in every game and that could cost him in the competition with Daniels.

Nix dropped from Heisman finalist to likely third-place finisher with Oregon's loss in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

The Oregon quarterback reeled off four straight games with over 350 passing yards in November, but he could not extend that run of form in Las Vegas.

Nix played from behind against Washington, and although he got the Ducks within three points, he could not lead a comeback to win the Pac-12 title.

Had Nix completed the come-from-behind effort he probably would have stayed in front of Daniels on the odds board.

The lack of a head-to-head win over Penix and Washington should cost Nix a spot in the top two of voting because there is a direct comparison you can make between the two Pac-12 signal-callers.

Marvin Harrison Jr. was the best non-quarterback in the FBS this season.

However, that will not be enough to put the Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver in the top three of the Heisman voting.

Harrison won the Biletnikoff Award on Friday to confirm his status as the nation's top wide receiver.

That is the only award Harrison will leave the collegiate level with since he did not do enough to overtake the three Heisman finalist quarterbacks.

Harrison will likely have an advantage, though, when it comes to the 2024 NFL draft. He is widely expected to be a top-five pick and a higher selection than Daniels, Penix and Nix.

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