{"id":755088,"date":"2026-07-10T17:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/755088\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T17:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:51:08","slug":"phil-steele-ranks-top-10-heisman-trophy-favorites-for-2026-college-football-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/755088\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Steele ranks top-10 Heisman Trophy favorites for 2026 college football season"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the 2026 college football season slated to kick off in just 50 days with North Carolina<\/a> and TCU<\/a>\u2018s clash in Ireland,\u00a0Phil Steele\u00a0has ranked his top-10 Heisman Trophy favorites.<\/p>\n

Steele\u2019s list includes nine quarterbacks and one wide receiver. 16 of the last 20 Heisman Trophy winners have been quarterbacks, with Colorado<\/a> CB\/WR Travis Hunter<\/a> (2024), Alabama<\/a> WR DeVonta Smith<\/a> (2020), Alabama<\/a> RB Derrick Henry<\/a> (2015), and Alabama<\/a> RB Mark Ingram II<\/a> (2009) bucking the status quo.<\/p>\n

[You can purchase\u00a0Phil Steele\u2018s 2026 College Football Preview Digital Magazine\u00a0here<\/a>].<\/p>\n

The list, headlined by Texas<\/a> quarterback Arch Manning<\/a> and Oregon<\/a> quarterback Dante Moore<\/a>, is below.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say that\u00a0Arch Manning\u00a0entered the 2025 season, his first as\u00a0Texas\u2018 starter, with monstrous expectations. While he didn\u2019t quite get off to the best start, he finished extremely strong. Across Manning\u2019s final eight games of the 2025 season, he led\u00a0Texas\u00a0to a 7-1 record, with strong wins over No. 6\u00a0Oklahoma<\/a>, No. 9\u00a0Vanderbilt<\/a>, No. 3\u00a0Texas A&M<\/a>, and No. 18\u00a0Michigan<\/a>. He stands as Phil Steele\u2018s preseason favorite to win the Heisman Trophy in 2026.<\/p>\n

In that span (final eight games), he passed for 2,012 yards and 15 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He also rushed for 239 yards and five scores on the ground, although 155 yards and two touchdowns came in the Longhorns\u2019 41-27 win over the Wolverines in the Citrus Bowl. Another big year is expected from Manning, as the Longhorns seek a return to the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n

$19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage<\/a><\/p>\n

After spurning the NFL Draft,\u00a0Oregon\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Dante Moore\u00a0is tabbed as Phil Steele\u2019s second-leading Heisman Trophy candidate. He could become the first Duck since 2014 (Marcus Mariota<\/a>) to win the award. In his first season as\u00a0Oregon\u2018s starting quarterback, Moore passed for 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns with just 10 interceptions. He led the Ducks to a 13-2 record and an appearance in the Semifinals of the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n

With superstar tight end\u00a0Jamari Johnson<\/a> and talented wide receivers Dakorien Moore<\/a> and\u00a0Evan Stewart<\/a>\u00a0(who missed the entire 2025 season) returning to\u00a0Oregon\u2018s offense this season, Moore certainly could find himself in New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. The Ducks are seeking their first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship under head coach\u00a0Dan Lanning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although\u00a0Notre Dame\u00a0fell just shy of a second consecutive College Football Playoff appearance, quarterback\u00a0CJ Carr\u00a0delivered an extremely impressive freshman campaign for the Irish. Carr passed for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns with just six interceptions across 12 games. In Notre Dame\u2018s two losses (No. 10\u00a0Miami<\/a>\u00a0and No. 16\u00a0Texas A&M<\/a>), Carr totaled 514 passing yards, four total touchdowns, and two interceptions. He is poised to take an even bigger leap in his second year under\u00a0Marcus Freeman<\/a>\u2018s leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the best quarterback [Notre Dame] has had during our lifetime,\u201d\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Todd McShay said on the July 2 edition of The McShay Show<\/a>. \u201cI think he has a chance to be absolutely sensational. I think CJ Carr is tracking toward being a legendary Notre Dame quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ole Miss\u00a0solidified itself one of the biggest winners of the college football offseason, when it was able to garner an extra year of eligibility for star quarterback\u00a0Trinidad Chambliss. Although he didn\u2019t open the 2025 campaign as the starter, Chambliss took over for an injured\u00a0Austin Simmons<\/a>\u00a0and blossomed into one of the best quarterbacks in all of college football. He passed for 22 touchdowns with just three interceptions and led the Rebels to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best quarterback in the\u00a0College Football Playoff, and the best quarterback going into this season, in my opinion, is Trinidad Chambliss,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Jordan Rodgers said on the June 29 edition of Get Up<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cThere were a lot of people talking about him as a first-round draft pick, if he chose to come out. He\u2019s so talented, really just his first year at this level, coming from a lower rank. I\u2019m really excited about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohio State\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Julian Sayin\u00a0more than lived up to the hype in his first season as the Buckeyes\u2019 starter in 2025. The Carlsbad, Calif. native passed for 3,610 yards and 32 touchdowns with just eight interceptions, and led\u00a0Ohio State\u00a0to an unblemished 12-0 regular season record and an appearance in the College Football Playoff. Sayin returns to Columbus for his 2026 campaign, and enters the season as one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cJulian Sayin\u2019s insanely accurate,\u201d On3\u2019s\u00a0Ari Wasserman\u00a0said on the Feb. 10 edition of\u00a0Andy & Ari On3<\/a>. \u201cHe throws a beautiful ball and\u00a0is certainly good enough to win a national championship at\u00a0Ohio State. The one thing I would neg him on \u2013 and maybe I\u2019m being overly nit-picky here \u2026 all the spectacular plays that\u00a0Ohio State\u00a0made this year, I felt like, were more because the receiver was awesome than it was because of who was delivering it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith sat atop On3\u2019s \u2018Top 100 players in college football for 2026<\/a>\u2018 list, which was released earlier this offseason. Across two seasons in Columbus, Smith has hauled in 163 receptions for 2,558 yards and a whopping 27 touchdowns. He was named a Unanimous All-American in 2025, a First Team All-American in 2024, and has been tabbed the back-to-back recipient of Big Ten Receiver of the Year.<\/p>\n

\u201cStretching opponents vertically with his game-changing burst, he finished with college football\u2019s fourth-most deep yards (536), despite fielding over a dozen fewer targets than everyone else in the top three,\u201d On3\u2019s Clark Brooks said about Smith in his piece. \u201cShowing his might and impressive ball skills, he hauled in over half of his contested targets.\u00a0Though receivers aren\u2019t wise bets for winning the Heisman, especially in the preseason, Smith\u2019s tantalizing scope of skills is more than capable for a historic 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Miami\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Darian Mensah, who transferred from\u00a0Duke<\/a>\u00a0after leading the Blue Devils to an ACC Championship last season, enters the 2026 campaign as one of Phil Steele\u2018s favorites to win the Heisman Trophy. Mensah was remarkable for head coach\u00a0Manny Diaz<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Duke\u00a0in his lone season in Durham. Mensah\u2019s 3,973 passing yards ranked second most in the country, while his 34 passing touchdowns were tied for second most in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s really good,\u201d\u00a0Miami\u00a0head coach\u00a0Mario Cristobal<\/a>\u00a0said about Mensah<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s accurate, he\u2019s got an unbelievable sense, and his pocket awareness is off the charts. His off-script stuff and his on-schedule stuff is elite. He\u2019s got the right temperament.\u00a0He is an alpha and he\u2019s got a great personality. People really gravitate to him. He\u2019s really athletic and he\u2019s a hard worker. He\u2019s really smart. He checks all the boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh Hoover\u00a0has the extremely difficult task of succeeding a Heisman-winning quarterback at\u00a0Indiana. Hoover has spent the past four seasons at\u00a0TCU<\/a>, serving in the starting role over the past three. Across 36 career games, the Heath, Tex., native boasts 9,629 passing yards and 71 touchdowns with just 33 interceptions. He will be the third starting quarterback of the\u00a0Curt Cignetti<\/a>\u00a0era at\u00a0Indiana. He joins\u00a0Ohio<\/a>\u00a0transfer\u00a0Kurtis Rourke<\/a>\u00a0(Second Team All-Big Ten) and\u00a0Cal<\/a>\u00a0transfer\u00a0Fernando Mendoza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh is one of the hardest workers that I\u2019ve met, and he throws so much,\u201d IU star receiver\u00a0Charlie Becker<\/a>\u00a0said about Hoover. \u201cI don\u2019t know how he does it; my arm would fall off. He texts me probably every day asking if we want to throw, just to be able to build that connection, which is good. As soon as last season was over, me and Josh were texting. We had a little break, so he was like, \u2018As soon as you guys get back, let\u2019s get right to it\u2019. After every workout, we\u2019ve been throwing and just trying to build that connection that me and\u00a0Fernando (Mendoza)\u00a0had.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first starting quarterback of the\u00a0Lane Kiffin<\/a>\u00a0era at\u00a0LSU\u00a0will be\u00a0Arizona State<\/a> transfer quarterback\u00a0Sam Leavitt. Leavitt was banged up in 2025, but led the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff for the first time ever in 2024. Across two seasons as ASU\u2019s starter, Leavitt totaled 4,513 passing yards and 34 touchdowns with nine interceptions. He was tabbed as the No. 1-ranked player in the Transfer Portal by On3.<\/p>\n

\u201cLane Kiffin\u00a0offenses, historically, are going to be driven by quarterback play. Not just in volume, but in the way they can put stress on the opposing defense,\u201d ESPN\u2019s\u00a0Greg McElroy<\/a>\u00a0said<\/a>. \u201cSam Leavitt\u2019s mobility and creativity matter because modern defenses are built to kind of suffocate structure. When the quarterback can extend plays and when the entire defensive structure changes because of the quarterback movement, that becomes a lot more difficult to defend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, Utah\u2018s Devon Dampier rounds out Steele\u2019s top-10 Heisman Trophy contenders list. Dampier shined in his first season at the Utes\u2019 starting quarterback. He passed for 2,490 yards and 24 touchdowns with just five interceptions. Dampier is a threat to contribute on the ground as well, as he racked up 835 yards and 10 more scores that way.<\/p>\n

He was named the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year, and led Utah to an 11-2 record and a blowout victory over Nebraska<\/a> in the Las Vegas Bowl. Things could change for Dampier this season, however, as both his head coach (Kyle Whittingham<\/a>) and offensive coordinator (Jason Beck<\/a>) departed for openings at Michigan<\/a>. No Utah player has ever won the Heisman Trophy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the 2026 college football season slated to kick off in just 50 days with North Carolina and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[7303,127827,162245,7310,127828,399,42984,7318,7319,398,396,397,7326,99,96467],"class_list":["post-755088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-arch-manning-23-isidore-newman","tag-cj-carr-24-saline","tag-dante-moore-23-martin-luther-king-jr","tag-darian-mensah-23-st-joseph","tag-devon-dampier-23-pinnacle","tag-football","tag-jeremiah-smith-24-chaminade-madonna-prep","tag-josh-hoover-22-rockwall-heath","tag-julian-sayin-24-carlsbad","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sam-leavitt-23-west-linn","tag-sports","tag-trinidad-chambliss-21-forest-hills-northern"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}