Mason Rudolph, Baker Mayfield are the Favorites to Win the Heisman

Don’t look now, but the Heisman race is being headlined by a pair of college football players from the state of Oklahoma. Ahead of the Big 12 slate, Westgate Las Vegas Superbook says Baker Mayfield is the Vegas favorite, but he’s followed closely by … Mason Rudolph.

Player	Team	Opening Odds	Current Odds
Baker Mayfield	OU	7-1	5-2
Mason Rudolph	Oklahoma State	15-1	3-1
Sam Darnold	USC	5-1	9-2
Lamar Jackson	Louisville	8-1	5-1
Squon Barkley	Penn State	20-1	12-1

If you’re confused by the numbers, Mayfield’s is essentially 2.5-1, and Darnold’s is 4.5-1, which means Mayfield is only a slight favorite over Rudolph. I don’t know if Saturday’s 497-yard, 5-TD performance against Pitt was Rudolph’s coming out party, but it appears as if more national media (not to mention Vegas) are taking notice.

As usual, Rudolph deflected attention on Saturday after the show.

“Honestly, I didn’t even pay attention to those statistics,” said Rudolph. “I knew they scored a lot. But no, usually it flows like that. Sometimes there will be some sputtering drives, but the coaches on the offensive line are making the right calls and making us run up front. We were protecting our butts and making that block for Justice [Hill] today. That one-two punch with J.D. [King] was something serious and it’s cool to watch.”

Of quarterbacks with over 50 attempts on the season, Mayfield leads the country with a 224 QB rating, and Rudolph is second at 210. Rudolph is also No. 4 in the nation in passing yards per game (378) which is incredible considering he has yet to play a 4th quarter. Only Josh Rosen of UCLA has more TD passes with 13.

Here’s a look at the two Oklahoma signal-callers’ numbers this season. They also happen to be the top two favorites for the stiff-armed prize.

	Mayfield	Rudolph
Attempts	82	94
Completions	63	68
Percentage	77%	72%
Pass yards per game	349	378
Rush yards per game	-4	6
Total TDs	10	13
INT	0	1

Three weeks into 2017, Vegas tells me we could legitimately be looking at a scenario where Beldam is played twice for 1. The Big 12 title 2. A spot in the CFB Playoff and 3. The Heisman Trophy.

Pass the heart medication. I need it all.