2024 NFL Draft betting odds
All of the Day 1 excitement is in the books from the 2024 NFL Draft, as the first round featured a lot of surprises and a lot of offensive players. That included six quarterbacks and seven wide receivers out of the first 32 picks. You can read all about the first round here.
Draft fans and opportunistic bettors still have the chance to wager some more on what will take place on Friday night, as the second and third rounds get going at 7 p.m. ET. There are several betting options available and some that are more interesting than others.
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All odds from DraftKings Sportsbook at 7:30 a.m. PT on April 26.
Spencer Rattler
While working with the VSiN X account last night during the draft, I (semi) jokingly tweeted this:
Well, he was not a top-20 pick, nor a first-round pick, but one very QB-needy team seems to be in the mix for Rattler today.
Odds for “Player Drafted By”
Raiders +140
Rams +500
Giants +500
Seahawks +900
Saints +900
Jets +2000
All others +2500 or higher
This begs the question – how early will Rattler go and will a team trade up to take him. Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix were lined at 32.5 for their draft position and both wound up going top 15. It is the most important position in all of sport, and if Rattler is viewed as even a potential starter, it could be a race to see who takes him.
The Raiders have the 44th pick (12th of the second round). The Saints have the 45th pick. The Giants are 47th and it was widely reported yesterday that they did a lot of work on the QB class, but took Malik Nabers with their first-round selection.
The Rams pick 52nd. With Matthew Stafford’s age, you can understand why their odds would sit where they do.
Rattler is +200 to be selected in the second round. I think that does happen, even if it takes a trade-up later in the round. It’s a solid bet to make.
First RB Selected
A record number of offensive players were taken in the first round with 23, including 13 QB/WR. Offensive linemen were also very popular. One position not taken was running back and DK has odds on the first one off the board that were moving around a lot on Friday morning.
Jonathan Brooks -150
Trey Benson +175
Blake Corum +750
MarShawn Lloyd +1200
Jaylen Wright +2000
All others +3000 or higher
Brooks is pretty widely-regarded as the top RB available, but he is coming off of a torn ACL. The Texas product is still odds-on to be the first RB selected, with Florida State’s Benson as the second choice. Benson had a great 40 time at the Combine and may be first on some boards.
In case you’re wondering, the Chargers and new head coach Jim Harbaugh have the 37th pick with Corum still on the board. The Chargers don’t really need a RB with Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins on the roster, but you never know when a Michigan man will draft a Michigan man. The Chargers are the +350 favorite to take Corum, but I would guess he’s the 69th pick if that happens.
I think Wright at +2000 might be worth a sprinkle. Teams love speed and he had the second-fastest 40 at the Combine.
H2H Draft Markets
Early this morning, DraftKings had three head-to-head draft matchups posted.
Adonai Mitchell (-200) vs. Ladd McConkey (+150)
After trading back twice and watching the Xaviers get drafted, with Worthy to KC and Leggette to Carolina, the WR-needy Bills have the first pick of the second round. Will they prefer the home run hitter or the reliable singles hitter? Mitchell had some freakish scores at the Combine and is more of a downfield threat, while McConkey is an adept route runner who can go deep, but profiles more as a guy you can rely on to move the chains and create short-yardage situations.
Personally, I think Mitchell goes first and he’s going to Buffalo.
Keon Coleman (-300) vs. Ja’Lynn Polk (+200)
The next two WR after Mitchell and McConkey are Coleman and Polk. Coleman is a good bit bigger and his 10-yard split on the 40 has to give teams hope that his distance speed can be improved. I actually think Coleman at -300 is short, as I could totally see him to the Chargers as the Keenan Allen replacement. Coleman has similar size to Allen and the quick burst off the line seems to fit what Allen did really well as a high-volume possession guy for Justin Herbert.
Cooper DeJean (-165) vs. Kool-Aid McKinstry (+125)
DeJean had a clear first-round grade, but teams had to be scared off by his broken fibula suffered in November. He’s a slightly bigger corner than McKinstry and a legitimate threat in the return game if a team values that skill set. Alabama DBs have obviously done very well in the NFL ranks, but Iowa has had a pipeline of defensive backs as well.
Could the Packers move up from the 41st pick to scoop DeJean quickly? The Cardinals also need a corner at the 35th pick. I’m not sure who goes first, but neither guy will last long.
49ers Keep It In The Family?
There are some intriguing one-way markets at DraftKings with some family ties for the 49ers.
49ers Draft Brenden Rice +300
49ers Draft Luke McCaffrey in the 5th Round +550
49ers Draft Frank Gore Jr. +700
Rice is the 6-foot-3 son of San Francisco legend Jerry Rice. Rice started at Colorado and then transferred to USC, where he caught 84 passes for 1,402 yards and 16 touchdowns, including 12 in his senior season.
McCaffrey, who is expected to be a mid-round pick, is the brother of Christian McCaffrey. He started as a QB at Nebraska and then transferred to Rice as a WR, where he caught 129 passes for 1,715 yards and 19 TD.
Obviously Gore is the son of RB Frank Gore. He played at Southern Miss and rushed for over 4,000 yards in four years with the Golden Eagles. Junior is an inch shorter than Senior, who played his college ball at Miami (FL). I would say Gore is an underdog to be drafted and would think Rice is easily the likeliest to happen of these three options.
