NFL Draft
Future Stars on the Horizon: Insights into the NFL Draft
The NFL Draft has a definite rush of its own. As teams select the best young talent from college football programs and from other teams and free agents in the backdrop, it’s anybody’s guess who will go where, making betting on those instances all the more hair-raising. Get expert analysis, insights and NFL Draft Odds, including betting tips; live the NFL Draft with us!
2024 NFL Draft Info 
- Location: Detroit, Michigan
- Date: 25-27 April
- How to watch: NFL Network, ESPN, ABC
2024 NFL Draft Order
| Team |
|---|
| New Orleans Saints |
| Chicago Bears (from Carolina) |
| Washington Commanders |
| New England Patriots |
| Arizona Cardinals (from Houston) |
| Los Angeles Chargers |
| New York Giants |
| Tennessee Titans |
| Atlanta Falcons |
| Chicago Bears (from Carolina) |
| New York Jets |
| Minnesota Vikings |
| Denver Broncos |
| Las Vegas Raiders |
| Indianapolis Colts |
| Seattle Seahawks |
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
| Cincinnati Bengals |
| Los Angeles Rams |
| Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Miami Dolphins |
| Philadelphia Eagles |
| Houston Texans |
| Dallas Cowboys |
| Green Bay Packers |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Arizona Cardinals (from Houston) |
| Buffalo Bills |
| Detroit Lions |
| Baltimore Ravens |
| San Francisco 49ers |
| Kansas City Chiefs |
NFL Draft Insights
The 2023 NFL Draft had seven rounds and a total of 262 picks, with 37 of those picks coming as compensatory picks. Those were awarded for losing players to free agency and hiring minority head coaches or coordinators.
Both the Texans and Raiders had 12 total picks, the most in the NFL. Carolina had the top pick in the draft, and multiple picks in the third, sixth, and seventh rounds. Seattle Seahawks had multiple picks too in the first, second, third, fourth, and seventh rounds for a total of 11 draft picks that year. The Miami Dolphins had the fewest picks in the draft with just four. They didn’t pick until the second round with pick No. 51.
The first round was held on Thursday, April 25. The second and third rounds were held on Friday, April 26. On Saturday, April 27 began the fourth through seventh rounds.
NFL Draft Odds
Betting on the Draft
If you like NFL betting, you will like NFL Draft betting. And the best part is the ease with which you can learn to become a top NFL Draft bettor. There is no shortage of information to read prior to placing your bets, and there is no shortage of potential bets.
Betting on the NFL Draft doesn’t have a long history like betting on NFL games, with only Nevada allowing NFL Draft betting prior to the legalization of sports betting in states across America. But now that so many in the U.S. can place NFL draft bets, the NFL Draft betting industry is booming. It’s even got quite a following in European markets, where the NFL is popular and NFL betting is big.
How Do NFL Draft Odds Work?
Unlike betting on NFL games, there are no points and point spreads for the NFL Draft. These bets are handled like moneyline bets – the more likely a bet is to happen, the shorter the odds. The more unlikely something is to happen, the longer the NFL Draft odds.
NFL Draft odds are no different than when you place a futures bet. You are betting on an event that hasn’t happened yet, and the less we know about the outcome, the bigger the payout. If you bet on one of the top defensive ends to get picked first overall, the worst betting odds you can get are +140. If you bet on quarterback Malik Willis to go No. 1 overall, the odds are +4000.
At +140 you would get $14 in profit for every $10 you wager. At +4000 you get $400 for every $10 you wager.
NFL Draft History
The very first NFL Draft took place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia in 1936. The very first player selected was Jay Berwanger, the first-ever winner of what would later be called the Heisman Trophy.
The need for the draft arose because players went to the team that offered them the most money, and it left other teams at a competitive disadvantage. The Philadelphia Eagles were one such club, and it was Eagles co-owner Bert Bell who first proposed the draft, which was adopted unanimously by the league.
A note of the changing times – only 24 of the 81 players selected in the 1936 draft went on to play in the NFL, as going from college football to the pros simply wasn’t the desire of most players, including the first pick, Berwanger. Instead of playing football he took a job with a Chicago rubber company and coached part-time at the University of Chicago.
The draft kept expanding – first with nine rounds, and by 1943 it was up to 32 rounds and a total of 300 players selected. Scouting was hard, so most of the players drafted came from media reports and coaching connections.
At its peak in 1976, the NFL Draft had a total of 487 players drafted in 17 rounds. The next year it dropped to 12 rounds. Basically, from 1965 to 2014 the NFL Draft was held in New York City, with the final nine of those years taking place at Radio City Music Hall; by 1994 we had just seven rounds, where the draft stands today.
In 2015 and 2016 it was held in Chicago, and then it began making the rounds of NFL cities. After Chicago it went to Philadelphia, then Dallas and Nashville, Cleveland and Las Vegas, and this year it is in Kansas City.
Draft Bets Explained
First Overall Selection
The most common NFL Draft bet is on the first overall pick.
CJ Stroud had been the favorite in the early going, paying odds of +180. But then he was bumped off from the draft boards by Alabama quarter back Bryce Young, paying -250 to be selected first overall.
Something to consider when betting on either of these two players is that four of the last five first overall picks has been a quarterback, in Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, and Baker Mayfield. But that streak was broken when the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Travon Walker a defensive end product of Georgia University.
Third Overall Pick
If you’re unsure about a the first overall pick or simply like the odds better here, you can bet on which player will be selected in the third position.
The NFL Draft betting odds had CB Will Anderson Jr. listed at +225 to come off the board as the third pick, followed by Anthony Richardson at Even. Oddsmakers were skeptical of a Defensive end going this high, with Tyree Wilson and Jalen Carter paying +2500 and +3300 for a third position that year.
Draft Position
Betting on the draft position is like betting the over/under on a game. A line is given, and you place your wager on if the player is going to be selected earlier than that line (under) or later than the line (over).
Anthony Richardson has a line of 4.5. If you bet the under then he needs to be selected in the top four picks in order for the bet to win. If he goes with the fifth pick or later, the over wins.
Will Anderson has a line of 3.5. If you bet the under and it hits the bet pays +200.
Position Totals
This is a bet on the number of players at a particular position that will be drafted in the first round. Like with draft position, this is an over/under bet.
The total number of defensive backs selected in the first round has a line of 4.5. If 5 or more players are selected and you bet the over, your payout is -400. If you take the under and the total number of defensive players drafted in the first round is 4 or fewer, your bet pays +250.
The line on offensive players is 5.5, with the over paying -200 and the under paying +150.
Much has been made about the running back depth in this draft, and the line on first round running backs is 1.5. A great class in 2021 netted five first round picks. Six wide receivers were selected in 2020, and only two went in 2019.
NFL Draft Betting FAQs
What kinds of NFL Draft bets are available?
It varies from sportsbook to sportsbook, but generally, you can place wagers on individual pick positions, over/under on pick positions, position over/unders, college team and conference over/unders, head-to-head player pick position, and a host of other potential bets. Be sure to check what your sportsbook offers before registering an account.
How long is the NFL Draft?
The first round generally takes roughly three hours. The second and third rounds generally take around four hours. The broadcast of rounds four through seven generally takes between six and seven hours.
How are compensatory picks awarded?
Seven rounds and 32 teams equals 223 picks, yet this draft has 262 picks. That means there are 39 compensatory picks awarded by the NFL.
Compensatory picks are awarded to teams if they lose more or better free agents than they acquired in the previous season. There is a maximum of 32 compensatory picks for free agency.
What is the supplemental draft?
The supplemental draft is held for players that for one reason or another were not eligible to be selected in the main NFL Draft. The supplemental draft is usually held later in the summer, but there is no firm timeline, and the pool of eligible players changes from year to year.
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