Diego Pavia Heisman Predictions: Exploring Vanderbilt QB’s chances at the most coveted individual prize in college football 

Diego Pavia fought to return for another season in college football in 2025. The former New Mexico Military quarterback filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in November 2024, alleging the violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act with NIL policies for redshirts and JUCO years.

Coming out victorious in the legal battle with the NCAA handed him an extra year of eligibility in college football. This was good news to Vanderbilt after Pavia led the program to an unexpected resurgence in 2024, which was highlighted by the win against Alabama in Week 6.

With his performance last season, there's a belief in some quarters that he could be in the Heisman Trophy race in 2025.

Here's a closer look at the chances of that happening.

Diego Pavia's 2025 Heisman Trophy odds

Diego Pavia is not currently considered among the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy according to the betting odds. The quarterback has +15000 odds to win the award according to FanDuel and +20000 to claim it according to DraftKings, giving him a small chance.

However, a section of college football sees him as one of the potential dark horses in the race for the award in 2025. The quarterback announced himself to the landscape last season with his heroic performance for the Commodores, leading them to a bowl game against the odds.

Should Pavia step up his performance in the upcoming season, there's a chance he could get himself in the Heisman conversation. He has a couple of games that could get him the noise next season, including Alabama, Texas and Tennessee.

Concerns among fans after Diego Pavia misses spring game

There's a lot of anticipation among fans on what Diego Pavia can achieve with the Commodores in the 2025 season, with some touting him for the Heisman Trophy. However, there were concerns among fans after the quarterback missed a spring game in April.

He was seen standing with the coaching on the sidelines during the game. Despite the rumors of a potential injury, his absence was a decision made by the team to avoid some risk. Coach Clark Lea clarified the situation postgame.

"There's more to lose than to gain," Lea said via TheTennessean.com. "Diego's had a good spring. We've limited him a bunch in scrimmage opportunities. I think getting through the bulk of the work was important, but there was nothing he was going to do today that was going to help us win in the fall."

Top competitors for the Heisman Trophy

Arch Manning, Texas, +700

Garrett Nussmeier, LSU, +900

Drew Allar, Penn State, +1000

Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State, +1400

Cade Klubnik, Clemson, +1400

Julian Sayin, Ohio State, +1500

Dante Moore, Oregon, +1800

LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina, +2000

Gunnar Stockton, Georgia, +2500

DJ Lagway, Florida, +2500

Ryan Williams, Alabama, +3000