Luke Altmyer Heisman predictions: Exploring Illinois QB's chances at the most coveted individual prize in college football

Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer had a breakout 2024 season. After establishing himself as a solid QB in 2023, he became one of the best QBs in the Big Ten this past season. He completed 211 of 347 passes for 2717 yards and 22 TDs. He did so while leading the Fighting Illini to an impressive fifth-place finish in the Big Ten.

With Altmyer heading into his final college season, he is expected to take another step forward. However, there are questions about just how big a star he can become. Can he compete for the biggest individual prize in college football, the Heisman Trophy?

Luke Altmyer 2025 Heisman odds: Where he stands now

As things stand, Luke Altmyer is not viewed as a contender to win the Heisman Trophy. He is nowhere close to the top contenders and it would be shocking to analysts if he won the award. According to FanDuel, he is a massive +40,000 underdog to win the award. While a win is not impossible, he is certainly not favored heading into the season.

How Luke Altmyer compares to past Heisman-winning QBs

The Heisman Trophy is typically won by quarterbacks, but not last season. Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter walked away with the award. So, the most recent QB to win the award was LSU's Jayden Daniels in 2023. Heading into that season, he had similar stats to Altmyer. He had completed 266 of 388 passes for 2913 yards and 17 TDs.

Illinois Heisman history: Can Luke Altmyer join the list?

The Heisman Trophy was awarded for the first time in 1935 and the Fighting Illini have not had a winner since then. However, in 2009, the National Football Foundation retroactively selected Heisman Trophy winners from 1889 to 1934. Illinois had two retroactive selects, halfback Bart Macomber in 1915 and halfback Red Grange in 1924.

If Altmyer were to win the award in 2025, he would be the first Illinois player to win the Heisman Trophy in typical fashion. While it is possible, he is not likely to do it.

Luke Altmyer's top competitors for the 2025 Heisman Trophy

For Altmyer to win the Heisman Trophy, he will need to overcome some stiff competition. Here are the top contenders, according to FanDuel:

QB Arch Manning (Texas) +700
QB Cade Klubnik (Clemson) +900
QB Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) +900
QB Julian Sayin (Ohio State) +1300
WR Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State) +1300

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly