2026 Heisman Week One Poll

Welcome to the 2026 Heisman Week One poll.  We had a very full and long weekend of football games. There has been some movement in our weekly Heisman Poll.  Arch Manning and CJ Carr both dropped out of the poll.  They both received minimal votes and were barely a blip on our radar.  Miami made a statement at Stanford, which helped Malachi Toney and Darian Mensah make their debut in the poll.  Again, a reminder that the Poll is weighted. The player gets five points for every first-place vote, four points for every second-place vote, etc. So, without further ado, our Week One Heisman Poll.

Malachi Toney makes his LWOCFB Heisman Poll debut in the honorable mention spot.  However, after his game against Stanford, we have a feeling he will make himself at home here on our weekly Heisman Poll. Toney had 12 catches for 234 receiving yards and three touchdowns.  Coincidentally, he hit the Heisman pose after each touchdown.  Toney emerged on the scene in 2025 as a true freshman. He finished the 2025 season with 109 receptions and 1,211 receiving yards.  Those 109 receptions led the nation and set a Miami single-season record.  The sophomore is an exciting and electric player to watch. It will be fun to see how Toney’s season plays out.

Julian Sayin stayed put in spot number five.  He had three touchdowns in 21 completions for 320 yards in his game against Ball State.  On Saturday, he will lead his team into Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium to take on fellow Heisman hopeful Manning.  The marquee matchup from last season. This time, Sayin will have to not only fight the roar of 100,000 Longhorn fans, but he will be battling the hottest of the hot seasons in Texas.  The heat indexes have been 105+ for the last month and a half.  Arch and his team will be heat-tested and battle-ready to welcome Sayin and the Buckeyes.  He and the Buckeyes put on a solid show last Saturday. If they continue on trend, Saturday night in Austin will be fun to watch.

Jeremiah Smith leapfrogged his teammate Sayin to kick Manning to the curb and go from Mr. Honorable Mention to number four.  Last week against Ball State, he had 8 receptions for 151 yards and two touchdowns.  Smith will have to deal with an extremely rowdy crowd on Saturday night in Austin as well as some Texas-sized heat.  The Longhorns are going to be gunning for Smith, and the Buckeyes.  They will make Smith fight for every reception.  If he can get open and stay ahead of the Longhorn defense, the game will be a good one.

Trinidad Chambliss had a lackluster first half on Sunday night.  Then he came out in the third quarter and went to work.  Chambliss threw three touchdowns for more than 250 yards in the second half.  Two of the three were 60-plus-yard touchdowns to Deuce Alexander.  To add to the fun, Chambliss also ran for a touchdown. It was a statistically outstanding performance that no college or NFL player has matched in a second half over the last 30 seasons, as Greg Harvey of OptaSTATS noted.

Voting note: Chambliss, Moore, and Mensah were neck and neck in votes. I am not sure everyone saw the second half of the game or he might have taken the lead.

Dante Moore dropped this week from number one to number two. The Ducks hosted the Boise State Broncos last Saturday.  The Broncos came out in the first quarter with guns blazing, and they put up a good fight.  However, much to their chagrin, Moore had a career day of 28 passes for 378 yards and three touchdowns.  This week they travel to Stillwater, OK to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys for an 11 am kickoff. If history is any indication of how this game will go, Moore and the Ducks will leave Stillwater victorious.

Voting note: Moore missed the top spot by a handful of points.

Darian Mensah is well-traveled.  He started his career at Tulane in 2023 as a redshirt. As a starter in 2024, Mensah logged 2,723 passing yards with 22 touchdowns. Last season, he led the Duke Blue Devils to the ACC Championship and finished his lone season in Durham with 3,973 yards and 34 touchdowns.  Now that we are all caught up on Mensah’s history, let’s discuss the game last week at Stanford. Mensah threw for a career-high 401 yards as well as a career-high five touchdowns as he and the Hurricanes beat down Stanford 45-6.  The Hurricanes host the Florida A&M Rattlers Thursday night. If Mensah and Toney continue their dynamic duo routine, the Rattlers will struggle to keep up.

Voting note: Mensah racked up 90% of the votes.

There was some but not a lot of movement this week due to several outstanding performances. Our Heisman hopefuls are showing us why they are on our list.  Let’s hope week two is as exciting as week one was.  Enjoy this weekend of games. Be sure to check back next week to see where your favorite player lands on our weekly Heisman Poll.