The FanDuel Sportsbook PA has released their odds for both offensive and defensive NFL Rookie of the Year. In this article, we’ll take a look at the top three in terms of odds and the potential for them to take down the honor.
Kyler Murray +250 Odds To Win Rookie of the Year
Murray really shined in his junior year at Oklahoma, completing 69% of his pass attempts for 4361 yards with 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, he really shined on the ground, rushing the ball 140 times for 1001 yards and 12 touchdowns. The combination of his excellent electric arm and running abilities will set him up for success as long as the Cardinals tailor their offense to his strengths, which is what they’ll do.
The other factor that’ll help Murray succeed is the upgrades they made with their offensive line. It was a massive detriment to their team last season and will help protect Murray. With the addition of some offensive weapons as well like Andy Isabella and Hakeem Butler, Murray has quite the arsenal, unlike what Rosen had. While we’ll see some growing pains with the rookie quarterback, his natural talent is in a position to shine and thus is the odds on favorite to take home the honor.
Josh Jacobs +600 Odds To Win Rookie of the Year
Murray and Jacobs have quite the separation between the two, which really shows how much love Murray is getting currently. However, this is certainly no lock and Jacobs is very much in the conversation. An early injury to the Raiders also helps Jacobs chances of taking the total over Murray.
Even before a single snap is taken, the Raiders are down a running back after Isaiah Crowell will miss the entire season due to a torn Achilles he suffered during a team workout. With this injury, Jacobs is now the clear-cut option in the backfield. In his junior year at Alabama, Jacobs carried the ball 120 times for 640 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’d also add on 20 receptions for 247 yards and an additional three touchdowns. With very little competition surrounding him, he should be a lock for 1,000 offensive yards.
It should also be noted that the running back position has dominated the Rookie of the Year award. Since it first began to be recognized back in 1967, 34 of the 52 recipients have been running backs, which gives them 65% share of the victories. Banking on a running back to win the ROY honor certainly seems like a sensible one to make.
Dwayne Haskins +1000 Odds To Win Rookie of the Year
Haskins was taken with the 15th overall pick by the Redskins as they look to replace Alex Smith. Unlike Murray and Jacobs, Haskins isn’t an automatic starter in what is looking like a crowded field at quarterback for the ‘Skins. Currently, the team has Case Keenum and Colt McCoy under contract, both of which will be competing for the starting job. With this in mind, it’s hard to like Haskins to take down the award before a starter is named.
Of the three quarterbacks, Haskins is by far the most talented. As a starter at Ohio State last year, Haskins completed 70% of his 533 pass attempts for 4831 yards, 50 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The downfall to Haskins is that he’s not a mobile quarterback but makes up for it with his size and arm strength. Even if Haskins is named the starter for Week 1, his surrounding cast raises a lot more questions, as the Redskins offensive line was amongst one of the worst but were ravaged by injuries. The Redskins are also really thin at receiver, as they lost Jamison Crowder and Maurice Harris.
With so many questions surrounding the Redskins, Haskins is far from a safe play even with some really large odds. The chances of him overtaking both Murray and Jacobs feels extremely thin, even if he begins the year under center.
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