It's not often two wide receivers are considered frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy. It's even rarer that the game-breakers grew up as high school rivals in football-mad South Florida.

Malachi Toney starred at American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale while Jeremiah Smith was tearing it up at Chaminade-Madonna in nearby Hollywood. Now they've played in the past two national championship games with Miami and Ohio State on a collision course once again in the College Football Playoff.

The two superstar wideouts are far away the best players on two outstanding offenses and keep one-upping each other week after week. Smith caught the game-winning touchdown in the Buckeyes' big win before their bye week, snapping Indiana's 24-game winning streak. Then when the junior was off, Toney exploded for a Hurricanes-record 16 catches for 194 yards and three TDs against Pittsburgh.

The two have combined for nine 100-yard games this season. Seven of those were actually 150-yard outings, and three were really 200-yard eruptions. Pro Football Focus grades them as the best receivers in the nation. Look up any receiving stat and odds are you'll find either Toney or Smith (or Oregon State's Jesse Legree) sitting atop it.

"Malachi is going off week in and week out," Smith said to the Columbus Dispatch in September. "Little friendly competition. I mean, I see him go off, so I'm trying to have a good game as well."

It's a competition that's likely going all the way to New York as they seek to become the second wide receiver in three years to win the Heisman. The race has been fast and furious since the start of the season, when Toney put up a career-high 234 yards at Stanford and Smith followed the next day with 151 of his own against Ball State. They both struck the Heisman pose after all five of their combined touchdowns.

Smith finished sixth in the voting in 2025 after putting up 87 catches for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore. Toney got the last laugh when his Canes knocked Smith's Buckeyes out of their bid for a repeat in the Cotton Bowl, though Smith had far and away the better game with 157 yards and a score (Toney was limited to 20 total yards).

Which one has the edge in the 2026 Heisman race? Let's dive in.

Malachi Toney stats

Through Week 8 of the college football season, the Miami prodigy leads the nation in receptions. His 66 catches lead second-place Gavin Freeman of Baylor by eight, and they lead Smith (tied for 10th with Maryland's Chris Durr Jr.) by 14. Toney ranks third with 952 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. That comes after he led the nation with 109 catches and finished fifth with 1,211 yards (just behind Smith's 1,243) and tied for 12th with 10 TDs as a freshman.

Even more remarkable than those gaudy numbers is Toney's unfathomable catch rate. Through his first 23 NCAA games with 203 targets, the 19-year-old has precisely one recorded drop, according to Pro Football Focus. His lone drop came in the national championship game against Indiana, and even that is debatable as Carson Beck's pass was low and behind him. Toney has zero drops on 74 targets this year; among receivers with at least 25 catches, he ranks third in reception rate. Smith also has excellent hands, though PFF credits him with five drops over his three seasons with two on 73 targets in 2026.

While Smith is a remarkable talent, Toney showcases his gifts in several different ways. He is Miami's primary punt returner, a role Smith largely left behind in his freshman year thanks to Ohio State's depth at the position. The high school quarterback also gets to pass on occasion, going 4 of 7 for 82 yards and two touchdowns in 2025 and tossing the final 2-point conversion in Miami's double-overtime win over Florida State on Oct. 17.

Jeremiah Smith stats

Toney's speed and explosiveness make him a threat any time and anywhere he touches the football, but Smith rates as the potential No. 1 overall NFL draft pick because his skills as a pure wide receiver are unmatched. At 6-foot-4, the junior has put up 984 yards — second behind only Oregon State's Jesse Legree — on 52 catches for an average of 18.9 yards per reception, tied for 14th-best in the nation. His 12 TDs also rank second behind Legree.

Whereas Toney gets most of his production after the catch (his 463 yards after catch rank third in the country), Smith is a downfield threat. He's tied for second with 22 targets on passes 20 yards or more downfield, according to PFF, while his 11 catches and 421 yards are fourth and his 6 touchdowns rank third. Toney does have good downfield numbers too, going 7 of 9 on such passes for 245 yards and 3 scores.

There's an argument that Smith's dominance also is more important to Ohio State's offense than Toney's is to Miami. If the Hurricanes' passing attack slows down, they still have the nation's No. 18 run game to lean on. The Buckeyes haven't had nearly the same level of success, ranking almost directly in the middle of the pack nationally at No. 73, barely ahead of Rutgers.

Heisman odds for Malachi Toney, Jeremiah Smith

Toney and Smith are the best player on one of the most feared offenses in college football, but both faces significant obstacles on their path to the Heisman Trophy. The chief roadblock is each player's quarterback, though for strikingly different reasons.

Smith had a great rapport with Julian Sayin, who earned a trip to the Heisman ceremony in 2025 himself, but the sophomore QB is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury to his throwing arm that could leave him out the rest of the season. Luke Fahey will get the first chance to step in.

The freshman is 9 of 13 for 203 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions heading into his first collegiate start at Southern California. If Smith's productivity falls notably without Sayin over the final five or six games of the season, his candidacy would take a hit.

Toney's got the opposite problem in that Darian Mensah is also setting records at Miami. The former Duke and Tulane QB has looked spectacular in running the Hurricanes offense, with 2,151 passing yards (ninth in the nation) for 22 TDs (second) and an .814 completion percentage that's on pace to shatter the FBS record.

Having two strong candidates from the same team often leads to split votes between the two. And the Heisman vote is astoundingly favorable toward quarterbacks: They've made up 21 of the 26 winners this century. But non-QBs have won out in recent history: DeVonta Smith won out over Mac Jones in 2020, and Reggie Bush denied Matt Leinart back-to-back trophies in 2005.

Here's a look at the latest Heisman Trophy odds according to BetMGM as of Wednesday, Oct. 28:

• Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State WR): +110

• Darian Mensah (Miami QB): +300

• Malachi Toney (Miami WR): +350

• CJ Carr (Notre Dame QB): +2000

• Jesse Legree (Oregon State WR): +2000

• Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss QB): +2000