Early Potential 2023 Heisman Sleepers

The Heisman Trophy is always a never-ending battle of debate. Early favorites can fall off quickly, while one or two names tend to make late pushes for inclusion on that finalist list.

The 2022 Heisman odds are out, and the top-3 names should surprise no one given the talent at quarterback the college football season is expected to give us this year. Ohio State's C.J. Stroud leads the way at +250 at DraftKings, followed by Alabama's Bryce Young (+350), and USC's Caleb Williams (+900).

That's all talent NFL teams are planning their tank job for, and all have the potential to put up monster numbers this year.

After that though, we see a huge drop-off with the rest of the list, which gives us a chance to find some long-shot value way before the college football season starts this fall.

Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas (+2000)

Now sure, Robinson is actually sitting in fourth right now behind those three quarterbacks I just mentioned, but it's the price and his position that makes him fit into this early long-shot category.

Alabama wideout DaVonta Smith broke the QB trend back in 2020 when he won, but going back to 2009, the only other non-QBs to win were both running backs with Derrick Henry (2015), and Mark Ingram (2009).

Desmond Howard was the last receiver to win back in 1991.

That's why, when looking for any potential surprises in 2022, we have to start with running backs who could have monster years. There's so many QBs in the spotlight this year, and every one of them will be compared to the rest, and in some ways could cannibalize their potential candidacy. A running back like Robinson, who started off last year with Heisman numbers already, would stand out a lot more without being directly compared to a loaded class at his position.

The real issue last year was all that losing for Texas. Robinson had 1,422 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns, and a potentially much-improved Longhorns team led by Robinson would go a long way towards his resume.

Braelon Allen, RB, Wisconsin (+6000)

Here's another example of someone that could be heavily leaned on in 2022, raising his stock. I have to rule out TreVeyon Henderson at Ohio State (+4000) given the fact that he'll be sitting in the backfield behind the current favorite, which casts a big shadow over whatever he does, making Allen a more logical choice right now.

Even with a lot of talent in the Badgers' backfield, both Chez Mellusi and Isaac Guerendo are recovering from injuries, leaving Allen alone to make his mark early in the year.

Wisconsin loves to run as we've seen, and after only getting 12 total carries through the first four weeks of the season, Allen finished his freshman year with 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns on just 186 carries.

The potential for an explosion in production is high for him in 2022.