NFL Draft Betting Preview 2017

During the 2016 NFL Draft, three quarterbacks were selected in the first round. Will the 2017 NFL Draft class produce that many first-round selections at the position? That’s the subject of just one of the prop wagers available for the event, which gets underway on Thursday night.

The Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles took quarterbacks Jared Goff and Carson Wentz with the first two picks of the 2016 NFL Draft, with the Denver Broncos then taking Paxton Lynch at No. 26 overall. The fourth quarterback wasn’t taken until the second round in 2016, when the New York Jets selected Christian Hackenberg with the No. 51 pick.

For 2017, the OVER/UNDER for the number of quarterbacks taken in the first round is pegged at 2.5, with the OVER the -350 favorite and the UNDER the +200 underdog. The consensus top quarterback available is North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky, who is expected to go no later than the Cleveland Browns’ second pick in the draft – which is the No. 12 slot. Trubisky has an OVER/UNDER of 6.5 for draft position, with the UNDER the -150 favorite.

Three other quarterbacks are then considered potential first-round material – Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes, and Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer, although many mock drafts leading up to the event have them going in the second round. Watson has an OVER/UNDER draft position of 12.5, with both sides of the wager set at -120.

Thomas Betting Favorite to Go Second

Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett is expected to be the Browns’ choice at No. 1 on Thursday, unless the team decides to reach for Trubisky. The San Francisco 49ers pick second, with Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas the favorite to be selected in that spot. Trubisky is also in the running to go second overall, with Ohio State cornerback Marshon Lattimore, LSU safety Jamal Adams, and LSU running back Leonard Fournette trailing the pack.

The OVER/UNDER on the number of running backs taken in the first round is listed at 2.5, with the OVER at -300 and the UNDER at +200. Ezekiel Elliott was the only running back taken in the first round last year. Along with Fournette, Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and Florida State’s Dalvin Cook are also potential first-round picks. McCaffrey has an OVER/UNDER draft position of 9.5, with the OVER the slight betting favorite at -135 odds.

For wide receivers the OVER/UNDER for the first round is 2.5, while it’s at 18.5 for defensive players, 12.5 for offensive players, and 4.5 for players from the Alabama Crimson Tide.