The 2025 Heisman bites the dust as Fernando Mendoza becomes the first Indiana Hoosiers player ever to win the award. Kudos, well-deserved props. But the thing about college football is that it never sleeps. Within 90 minutes of his Heisman win, ESPN had already made its prediction for the 2026 season’s Heisman winner on its way-too-early list, and that pick came from a non-playoff team.

According to Notre Dame insider Tyler Horka, quarterback CJ Carr is already being talked about as a “way-too-early” favorite for the 2026 Heisman Trophy. Truth be told, that’s a lot of hype for a guy who just wrapped up his first season as the starter. But at the same time, you can see why big media folks have Heisman written all over him.

Carr’s stats in 2025 were legit impressive, totally backing up the

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