Latest Round of Prop Bets: Should Belichick Be the Coach of the Year Favorite?
The NFL is currently in the middle of their offseason as the NFL Draft came to a close last week. Fans, who have been starved for any kind of sports material that wasn’t video games or reruns, tuned in to watch it in droves. With that finished and most of the top undrafted free agents being picked up and signed this week, it leaves a bit of a lull again for football fans. The schedule is due out next week, with the NFL announcing that they have a full 17 week slate to be revealed as they hope to start on time and play with business as usual.
Earlier this week, Caesars Sportsbook revealed some of their prop bets for the season. They covered individual performances, whether teams would make the postseason, and their potential odds for a conference championship among other things. After that first wave of props came out, the sportsbook came out with another set later in the week, announcing their early odds on several key end of season award races. In addition, DraftKings Sportsbook released their odds as well, making it an interesting time for bettors to potentially jump in and make an early wager on someone they feel is a sound bet to try and earn some cash. With that said, let’s take a look at the fields regarding some of those awards:
Coach of the Year: Bill Belichick is currently the favorite at DraftKings, going off at +1000 odds as of Saturday afternoon. Rounding out the top five in the category is the Buccaneers’ Bruce Arians (+1400), Dallas’ Mike McCarthy (+1400), San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan (+1600) and a six-way tie with Arizona’s Kliff Kingsbury, Buffalo’s Sean McDermott, Indianapolis’ Frank Reich, Kansas City’s Andy Reid, Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel and Kevin Stefanski (Browns), all at +2000 at this point. Belichick is the darling based on his track record but he now has to show that Tom Brady wasn’t the main reason why. For me, I like the moves Tampa Bay made in the offseason and Arians is a dangerous offensive mind. Now that he has the personnel in place, the Buccaneers have a chance to take a massive step forward. My Pick: Arians (+1400)
Offensive Rookie of the Year: One thing we’ve seen in recent years is that quarterbacks have had a tough time winning this award. Dak Prescott (2016) and Kyler Murray (2019) are the only quarterbacks in the last seven years, while Murray and Cam Newton (2011) are the only first overall picks to win the award in the last nine. That makes for tough sledding for Bengals QB Joe Burrow, who is still the favorite on the board at +225 right now. Former teammate and Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who went with the final pick in the first round, is next in line at +600 while Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa (+1000), Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor (+1000) and Detroit’s D’Andre Swift (+1200) are next in line. Burrow has a lot of potential and surprised as a 200-1 longshot going into last season to win the Heisman but the Chiefs are the defending champs and Edwards-Helaire doesn’t have a ton of competition for workload. My Pick: Edwards-Helaire (+600)
Defensive Rookie of the Year: The big buzz around the draft this season was the fact that there were three QBs taken in the first six picks of the draft. There wasn’t a ton of excitement about defensive personnel outside of a few names, creating a diverse field of options. Washington’s Chase Young (+200), the second overall pick, is the consensus favorite. Isaiah Simmons, who went to Arizona with the eighth overall pick, is next in line (+500) in that category. Baltimore’s Patrick Queen (+900), the Chargers’ Kenneth Murray (+1100) and Detroit’s Jeff Okudah (+1600) are the next in line in that category. When you get right down to brass tacks, Young is going to have plenty of opportunities to wreak havoc on defense given Washington’s poor play last season. He makes an impact and that gives him the nod. My Pick: Young (+200)
There are plenty of other good prop options out there, from taking a shot at the league’s MVP, to Defensive Player of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year. This marks the first time that betting on Coach of the Year and Offensive Rookie of the Year was approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission. That opens up the potential for sports books to take a bigger handle as fans try to show that they know more than their friends. There are more props to come and when they do, we’ll be here to talk about them.
