Heisman Watch: What does Jesse Legree have to do over the final 5 weeks of the season to be a Heisman finalist?

Just how real are Jesse Legree’s Heisman chances?

The star freshman Oregon State wide receiver has been incredible in 2026. Through seven games and eight weeks, he’s the only player who has more than 1,000 receiving yards, is averaging over 22 yards a catch despite being tied for 20th in total receptions and his 14 receiving touchdowns are two more than Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith.

Smith is the current favorite for the Heisman Trophy.

Meanwhile, Legree has odds of 20-1 at BetMGM. He’s the co-No. 4 favorite behind Smith (+110), Miami quarterback Darian Mensah (+300) and Miami WR Malachi Toney (+350). Toney leads the nation with 66 catches.

If Legree was putting up his numbers while on a power conference team, he’d be the runaway favorite. But the harsh reality is that the Heisman Trophy — and most awards in college football — favors power conference players.

Oregon State’s Jesse Legree has 46 catches for 1,040 yards and 14 touchdowns in just 7 games this season. (Al Sermeno/Getty Images)Al Sermeno/ISI Photos via Getty Images

Over the past 20 seasons, just six players outside of one of the four current power conferences or the previous iteration of the Pac-12 have finished in the top five of the Heisman voting. And Ashton Jeanty’s runner-up finish to Colorado’s Travis Hunter in 2024 is the highest of any of those players in that span.

• 2024: Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty (2nd)

• 2015: Navy QB Keenan Reynolds (5th)

• 2013: Northern Illinois QB Jordan Lynch (3rd)

• 2010: Boise State QB Kellen Moore (4th)

• 2007: Hawaii QB Colt Brennan (3rd)

• 2006: West Virginia RB Steve Slaton (4th)

Jeanty rushed for 2,601 yards two years ago and had 29 rushing touchdowns over 14 games. As the Oregon State offense averages over 42 points per game and 7.3 yards per play, Legree has accounted for just under 40% of Oregon State QB Braden Atkinson’s passing yardage even though he has caught just 24% of Atkinson’s completions.

Atkinson has been one of the nation’s best quarterbacks with 2,604 yards and 24 TDs, and four other Oregon State players have caught at least 20 passes, but none of those four have totaled more than 353 yards. Opposing defenses are trying to stop Legree, and he’s still putting up cartoonish numbers relative to the rest of his teammates. Those numbers were a big reason why Legree took the unique step of announcing he would be returning to Oregon State in 2027 during the Beavers’ bye week.

But how wild will his regular-season stats have to be to at least be a Heisman finalist? Legree is averaging 149 yards a game. He may have to keep that pace up over Oregon State’s final five games of the season to really get voters’ attention.

Here are the rest of this week’s Heisman contenders to watch

Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith (+110): Smith’s odds had been better than even money in recent weeks, but Saturday night will be his first game of the season without QB Julian Sayin. Backup QB Luke Fahey is likely to start in Sayin’s place. Will he be able to find Smith as often and as well as Sayin did? Smith’s Heisman chances may depend on it.

Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss (20-1): The Rebels’ Week 8 loss to Texas was the first time Chambliss had completed fewer than 50% of his passes in a single game during his Ole Miss career. How does he bounce back with Auburn coming to Oxford? Great games against the Tigers and then Georgia in Week 10 can put Chambliss firmly back in the Heisman mix.

USC QB Jayden Maiava (100-1): Look, Maiava’s chances of winning the Heisman almost assuredly disappeared when USC scored just seven points in a loss at Wisconsin in Week 8. But there’s no better way to get back into the periphery of the discussion than with a big game against Ohio State. It’s not all that hyperbolic to say that Halloween night could change the trajectory of the Trojan program.

Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.