What defines a Heisman Trophy sleeper? For Blake Toppmeyer of USA TODAY Sports, it is all about the odds. In his latest post, he touched on seven dark horses who could contend for the Heisman. While there are two Alabama Crimson Tide players prominently featured in his article, the first player we will touch on is quarterback Keelon Russell. BetMGM has him at 35-to-1 odds to win the Heisman.
Toppmeyer painted a pretty picture on what it will take for Russell to shock college football and win it.
"First, Russell must win the quarterback job. He’s in a battle with veteran backup Austin Mack, who has more experience, but if Alabama is going to make the playoff, it needs a quarterback with superstar potential. That’s Russell."
Not only does Russell need to beat out veteran backup Austin Mack for the starting quarterback job, but he probably needs to get Alabama back into the College Football Playoff to even have a chance at this. For Alabama to overcome much of its offseason attrition, Russell needs to be the superstar player he was coming out of high school. He had five stars next to his name out of Texas for a reason.
Even if this feels slightly improbable, keep in mind that Mendoza was 60-to-1 entering last season...
Keelon Russell has the upside to bring Alabama another Heisman Trophy
In this day and age of the Heisman Trophy, one of two things needs to happen for any player to win it, regardless of the position they play. They either need to be the star player on a playoff-caliber team, or put up ungodly stats on a team that wins eight or nine games. It usually helps if the player is a quarterback, preferably a dual-threat who just so happens to play for a major conference contender.
Russell has those two components working in his favor. In fact, his dual-threat playmaking abilities could be the reason Alabama goes from a fringe playoff contender to a team vying for a top-four seed. If he is the catalyst for Alabama getting a first-round bye into the first round of the playoffs, that might be enough to make him a finalist for it. Of course, he will have to outperform other star players.
Overall, Russell feels like one of those players whose talent is too great to never manifest into anything. Keep in mind this is only his second year at Alabama, having played sparingly thus far. While he may not be able to tap into all of that raw talent of his, he feels like a player who is simply too good to let ride the pine for the better part of his college career, much like Mack has and Ty Simpson did.
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Ultimately, there is good value in banking on the upside of Russell as a Heisman Trophy dark horse contender. Could he conceivably get there this season? He has a potential narrative working in his favor. Truth be told, 2027 may be the campaign where he truly puts it all together. Of course, any talks of Russell contending for the Heisman this season or next hinge entirely on him beating out Mack.
Because the idea of what Russell can be is so promising, it is easy to feel optimistic about Alabama.
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