My entire Heisman ladder got flipped on its head after Week 10 of the college football season. We’ve tracked the 2026 Heisman Trophy race every single week, and this one broke my brain.

One of the greatest slates of all time produced a brand new No. 1 on my board, and he wasn’t even on the ladder last weekend. If I had a Heisman vote right now, it would go to LaNorris Sellers out of South Carolina.

But, another quarterback is quickly rising into the Heisman conversation as well.

LaNorris Sellers had a Heisman-moment against Texas A&M

The Heisman is subjective. What “value” means to you, what “best player” means to you, all of that can look different to the person sitting next to you. And I completely understand if your criteria lean on the stat sheet. That’s fine. I’ll live with that.

But I believe you know a Heisman winner when you see one. It doesn’t always have to show up in the box score. It doesn’t always have to be something tangible.

Look at what Sellers did. He carried this South Carolina program without a starting running back. He got injured in the second quarter. Then he hobbled his way into a game-winning touchdown against Texas A&M.

That performance did more than win a football game. It saved the job of Shane Beamer, and it saved the Gamecocks from what would have been one of the most disappointing runs in program history. I watched that, and I said that’s the most valuable player in the sport. That’s who you give it to.

Now you may say, Tegan, the award is literally for the best player in college football. Fair enough. If that’s your definition, give it to Jeremiah Smith. I’d be completely fine with it. But, what Sellers did in that moment will sit with some of the voters. It certainly sat with me after watching that game and the full weekend slate.

CJ Carr is rising up into the top of this conversation

CJ Carr is now the betting favorite to win the Heisman, and I know the odds say he’s the guy. But go back to the idea of knowing it when you see it.

Anybody with eyeballs who watched that game did not come away thinking Carr is the Heisman contender he’s being presented as. The odds can say whatever they want. I just don’t see it.

How the rest of the field is looking after Week 10

The problem for Jeremiah Smith is the situation around him. The injury at quarterback is going to hinder his case, and Luke Fahey is just not good. Smith did surpass 100 yards again this weekend, but that was very clearly stat padding to make the night look better than it was. When the game was competitive, he was a non-factor. That isn’t on him, but Heisman voters are going to notice. As for the other wide receiver in Oregon State, Jesse Legree is out of the conversation.

Then there’s Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. Georgia dismantled him, and that might have knocked him out of the conversation as well. A night like that doesn’t just dent a Heisman case. It completely ends it.

So where does that leave the field? Carr has to be near the top of the ladder because of where the market has him. Jeremiah Smith has to be on it still because he’s the best pure talent in the sport, even with the mess at quarterback. I’m starting to think you can make a real case for Nate Sheppard at Duke, too. Manny Diaz is certainly making that case.

With that being said, nobody on that list gave me a moment like the one Sellers gave me in Week 10. Plenty of guys can put up numbers in a blowout. Very few can drag a program back from the edge on one good leg while the head coach’s future hangs on the result.

Up to this point, LaNorris Sellers is my No. 1, and he’s the guy I’d hand the 2026 Heisman Trophy to. If the voters stick to the numbers (Smith) or the odds (Carr), they’re going to miss the most valuable player in college football. That’s what Sellers is right now.