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Justin's top 10 Heisman Trophy contenders ahead of Week 7 of the 2025 college football season. Where do Dante Moore and Carson Beck rank?
Top 10 Heisman Contenders For Week 7
Last week saw seismic shifts in the Heisman race. This week? Not so much. Whether it was because top contenders were on a bye or picked up big wins, the top seven players in last week’s rankings remain the top seven players in this week’s rankings, albeit in a slightly different order.
Only one player from last week has dropped off this week. That player is Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who was picked off twice in Saturday’s 30-14 loss to Alabama. Who replaces him, and how does the rest of the field shake out? Here’s the top 10 Heisman contenders entering Week 7.
10. Sam Leavitt, Quarterback, Arizona State
Last Week: Eighth
Sam Leavitt drops a couple of spots in the odds after a bye week. I think his path to winning the award closed the moment he posted the complete stinker against Mississippi State back in early September, but he’s played well since then and has Arizona State positioned well for Big 12 play.
I considered putting Notre Dame quarterback C.J. Carr here as well. With the Irish finally winning football games, his betting odds have shot up, but I didn’t feel comfortable dropping Leavitt entirely when he didn’t even play a game in Week 6.
9. Joey Aguilar, Quarterback, Tennessee
Last Week: Not Ranked
Why move Joey Aguilar back into the rankings and above Leavitt when both had last week off? Because another week has passed since his two-interception game against Mississippi State, so I’ve decided to reevaluate how I feel about Aguilar.
Yeah, he’s thrown five interceptions in the past three games, but he also led the Vols to an overtime win over Mississippi State and almost upset Georgia in that stretch. The turnovers hurt, but he has eight passing and two rushing touchdowns in that stretch as well.
8. Marcel Reed, Quarterback, Texas A&M
Last Week: 10th
A&M’s undefeated season continues after a 31-9 win over Mississippi State. Quarterback Marcel Reed threw two touchdowns and rushed for another in that victory.
It’s been a weird year for Reed as far as stats go. In his biggest win of the season against Notre Dame, he only completed 45.9 percent of his passes and overall, he has a completion percentage of just 59.7 percent, which is low for a Heisman contender. Still, he’s fueling this strong A&M run, so he deserves to be mentioned.
7. Trinidad Chambliss, Quarterback, Ole Miss
Last Week: Sixth
The Rebels were off this week. Trinidad Chambliss drops a spot because of how well last week’s seventh-place player played in his team’s victory, but that shouldn’t be viewed as a knock on Chambliss.
In his first season at the FBS level, Chambliss leads the SEC in yards per attempt at 10.2, though he has just five passing touchdowns so far. The numbers could be better, but as long as he keeps leading Ole Miss to victories, he’ll be in these rankings.
6. Julian Sayin, Quarterback, Ohio State
Last Week: Seventh
The biggest knock against Julian Sayin’s Heisman case is the same knock there was against Shedeur Sanders last year, which is that he’s overshadowed by his top wide receiver.
With that said, Sayin is making a strong case on his own as well. Minnesota isn’t the toughest opponent, but going 23-for-27 for 326 yards and three touchdowns against the Gophers is probably the statistical highlight of Sayin’s season so far. He’s also now gone consecutive games without an interception.
5. Jeremiah Smith, Wide Receiver, Ohio State
Last Week: Fifth
Jeremiah Smith may have only finished with 67 receiving yards against Minnesota this week, but he found the end zone on two of his seven receptions. Smith now has six touchdowns over the past four games. He leads the Big Ten in receptions and receiving touchdowns.
I feel like a broken record here because I probably say it at least every other week, but Smith is probably the best player in college football. The thing is, the best player isn’t always the one who walks away with the Heisman.
4. Fernando Mendoza, Quarterback, Indiana
Last Week: Third
Fernando Mendoza is another victim of the bye week, as he swaps places with last week’s third-place player because, well…I guess because I fall for recency bias?
Mendoza has some great performances, including two games with a completion percentage over 90. He’s also coming off a pretty shaky outing against Iowa that really hurt his case despite the Hoosiers getting the win. His biggest issue is that if he can’t dominate against Oregon this weekend, then he doesn’t have any marquee games left on the schedule to bolster his case.
3. Ty Simpson, Quarterback, Alabama
Last Week: Fourth
Alabama took care of a rising Vanderbilt team on Saturday and quarterback Ty Simpson played a major role in that.
Simpson was 23-for-31 for 340 yards and two touchdowns. He did throw his first interception of the season, but that seems like more of a positive than a negative, as it’s impressive it took this long for that to happen.
2. Dante Moore, Quarterback, Oregon
Last Week: First
Dante Moore dominated against Penn State two weeks ago, throwing three touchdowns and completing 74.4 percent of his pass attempts in the double-overtime win.
That win doesn’t look quite as good now that Penn State lost to previously winless UCLA, but I really don’t want to hold that against Moore, who did about as well as he could have in the Oregon victory. No, the main reason he dropped a spot is the same reason that the last few guys dropped, which is that someone who played this week had a very good showing.
1. Carson Beck, Quarterback, Miami
Last Week: Second
We have a new favorite. Carson Beck takes the top spot after a big road win over Florida State this weekend that saw Beck play arguably his best game of the season.
The senior quarterback was 20-for-27 for 241 yards in the victory, throwing four touchdown passes and zero interceptions. It was a big win for Beck, and one that his Heisman case needed, since Miami currently has no more ranked teams on its schedule.
