There was a time when the NFL Draft happened in a small conference room in New York in the middle of the week, and away from the television cameras. If you were lucky, the next morning’s newspaper would tell you which players your team selected. And if you were even luckier, you had seen those players on Saturday the previous fall during the college football season and knew something about them.
Now we know everything there is to know about every possible draft pick, including his favorite foods.
Hard to believe when we see today’s draft, but there used to be 30 rounds, and they were completed in a matter of a few hours. That dropped to 20 rounds when the AFL joined the professional football world in 1960, and still, it was a short day of drafting. Most picks didn’t find out who selected them until after it was over.
Even in today’s nationally televised draft era, there were as many as 12 rounds, and things progressed at a fairly decent clip. In 1994 it became just seven rounds, and the increased television coverage drew it out to three full days in a rotating venue.
Of course in that seven-round format, there was no better gem found than the 199th pick of the 2000 draft – Tom Brady. Considering that there were only 254 picks that year, and Giovanni Carmazzi, who never threw an NFL pass, was selected 134 picks before Brady, the Patriots’ pick that year goes as the best in NFL Draft history.
NFL Draft Betting
The NFL is clearly the king of American sports. There is no bigger rating bonanza than the NFL, and all NFL sports news dwarfs the news of other sports. The same holds true for the draft.
The NBA Draft draws between 2.5 million and 3.1 million. When Zion Williamson was drafted No. 1 overall in 2019 there was a modest bump to the higher amount. The NFL Draft, which takes place over three days, averaged more than 8.3 million viewers in 2020 – more than 25 million over the entirety of the draft.
That’s to say nothing of the hundreds of thousands that attend in person, or the millions of dollars that are wagered on the NFL Draft.
The NFL’s position at the top of the mountain is bolstered by the love of NFL betting, and the ease and convenience of NFL Draft betting. For fans hungry for NFL action, and not wanting to wait until the season kicks off in September, the April event is perfect for wagering.
There is no shortage of draft analysis and no shortage of bets that you can place using the information you get from that analysis. If you don’t know how to bet on the NFL Draft, it’s very easy to learn how to place bets, and what kinds of bets you can make.
You can wager on the players and where they go, or the teams and who they pick. From positions to specific players, to potential trades, to exact NFL Draft betting picks, it’s all available to fulfill your wagering desires.
NFL Draft Betting Props
There are a number of great props to play for the NFL Draft that are available every year. And using the information gained from the teams, the players available, and history, you can dial in on bets that are good to make.
Pick Position Over/Under
One of the favorite NFL Draft betting props is a bet on the draft position of a specific player, and if he will be selected over or under a given line.
In 2021 the over/under on Mac Jones was set at 15.5. But after the 49ers made the trade with Miami to move up to No. 3 overall, there was a rumor that they were moving up to get Jones, and not Trey Lance, as they eventually did. That shifted the line on Jones, and if you wanted to bet the under at 15.5 – a bet that would have won, since Jones was selected 15th – you might have avoided it altogether because the rumor shifted the line.
It’s a great prop bet because it’s easy to bet, but also subject to odds shifts up to, and even during the draft.
Position Exact Order
Be it a run on quarterbacks, or a grouping of wide receivers, another great NFL Draft betting prop is to wager on the order the players will come off the board.
Again looking at 2021, the exact order of quarterback picks of Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, and Justin Fields paid +425. The pick of Lawrence was a no-brainer, and when the Jets did what they were expected to do by taking Wilson, it looked like the bet had a chance. But Fields dropped behind Trey Lance, not going until the 11th pick.
There was a similar bet for wide receivers, with the order of Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, and Rashod Bateman paying +600.
Chase went fifth overall to the Bengals, Waddle went next to Dolphins, and Smith was the third wide receiver selected, going No. 10 to Philadelphia, but the New York Giants messed up the bet by taking Kadarius Toney with the No. 20 pick. Bateman was next off the board, making the bet a near-win, but still a loss.
Head-to-Head Props
Another very popular type of NFL Draft prop is to bet on head-to-head draft matchups. It’s simple – you bet on which player you think will come off the board first, Player A or Player B.
In 2021 there was a head-to-head prop featuring the two top running backs on the board, Najee Harris and Travis Etienne. Coming out of Alabama Harris was the favorite, paying -250, and he was indeed the first running back taken. He went 24th to the Steelers, while Etienne was selected 25th by the Jaguars.
There was a similar bet involving offensive tackles. We all knew that Penei Sewell would be the first off the board, with Rashawn Slater expected to follow him. But the next tackle to go was a big unknown, prompting the prop bet of Alijah Vera-Tucker vs. Christian Darrisaw.
Vera-Tucker was indeed the next tackle taken, with the USC product going No. 14 to the Jets. The Raiders took the next tackle at No. 17, reaching for Alex Leatherwood, who was expected to be a Day 2 pick. Darrisaw ended up going to the Vikings at No. 23.
NFL Draft Betting First Overall Pick
It’s always fun to bet on the first overall pick, even in years when it’s a foregone conclusion like it was with Trevor Lawrence in 2021, who paid just -10000.
In making this bet it’s important to know the history of the first overall pick and which positions are most valued by NFL general managers. For example, there was a time that running backs were often the first overall pick. In the 1970s Lee Roy Selmon, Ricky Bell, and Earl Campbell went No. 1 in back-to-back-to-back years. In the 1980s you had Billy Sims, George Rogers, and Bo Jackson all go No. 1.
But since Ki-Jana Carter was taken No. 1 overall in 1995, no running back has gone with the top pick. In fact, since Keyshawn Johnson was taken No. 1 overall in 1996, only three positions have been taken with the top pick – quarterback, offensive tackle, and defensive end. And not surprisingly those are the highest-paid positions in the NFL.
When making this wager, the NFL Draft odds are more important than the actual players you are betting on. Lawrence was the obvious choice in 2021, but with odds at -10000, it’s hardly worth a bet. Joe Burrow in 2020 was the same with odds of -10000.
In 2019, eventual first overall selection Kyler Murray was paying -350 as we got close to draft day, with Nick Bosa behind him at +300 and Quinnen Williams at +1000.
NFL Draft Betting Conclusion
You love the NFL and betting on the NFL, which is why you’re here. And if you haven’t yet placed wagers on the NFL Draft, now is the time to add that to your sports betting repertoire.
As you can see, there is a myriad of available wagers to place, and all kinds of great ways to make money and enhance your NFL Draft viewing experience. Plus a number of sportsbooks allow for live NFL Draft betting, meaning that as the picks come off the board, the NFL Draft odds will be changing, and so should your bets.
With a little bit of research, you too can become a draft expert and a profitable draft bettor. With that research will come a better understanding of each team’s needs, how each team is filling those needs, and which teams have emerged from the draft in a better position to compete in the upcoming season.
That kind of knowledge is going to make you a better and more profitable bettor when the regular season kicks off in September.
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