Tua Tagovailoa Injury Leaves Him Behind Joe Burrow & Jalen Hurts Atop Latest Heisman Odds in Week 9

For Alabama, star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's reported high ankle sprain looks like it might not have an enormous impact on the Crimson Tide's season.

However, for this year's Heisman Trophy bettors, Tagovailoa's expected timetable for return has already turned the top odds in the 2019 Heisman race upside down, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

With early reports claiming that Tua is likely to miss just one game, which would be a Week 9 matchup with unranked Arkansas, the Crimson Tide's star QB would be slated to return in time for Alabama's massive home showdown with the No. 2 LSU Tigers in Week 11.

Being projected to miss that one game, however, has already cost Tua his top spot as the previous betting favorite to win the Heisman, opening the door for LSU QB Joe Burrow and Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts to surpass him in the latest odds.

Joe Burrow Heisman Odds

After Saturday's action, Tagovailoa's Heisman odds fell from +105 to +360, leaving the new favorite to take home college football's top prize as Burrow with +170 odds and Hurts sitting at +185 close behind him.

Both Burrow and Hurts have seen their respective Heisman stocks rise tremendously over the course of the season. Before Week 1, Hurts had the third-best Heisman odds at +1100, while Burrow was a huge long shot at +6500 odds.

Despite the injury, Tua is still in the hunt, but after opening tied with Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence for the nation's top odds to win the Heisman at +250, Tagovailoa nows sits in third place (+360).

Justin Fields Heisman Odds

If you're looking for other options beyond these three QBs, however, there's a handful of contenders that could benefit from Tua missing time as well. Ohio State QB Justin Fields sits in fourth at +1000 odds, currently leading an undefeated Buckeyes' team that just leaped Clemson for the new No. 3 spot in the nation, according to the Week 9 AP Top-25 Poll.

Jerry Jeudy Heisman Odds

As the wide receiver with the best odds to win the award, Alabama's Jerry Jeudy (+6000), could stand to suffer in the Heisman race without Tua throwing him the ball.

However, Jeudy could have a great stage to make his Heisman case with a huge performance without Tua under center to showcase how dynamic his skill set can be without one of the best arms in the county tossing him the pigskin.

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Stuart Easton is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Stuart Easton also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username stueast13. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.