2024 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds

EDGE rushers Turner, Latu co-preseason favorites, followed by various first-year defenders

July 22, 2024 170 3 minutes readNFL Picks & Parlays

2024 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds — Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Gamewreckers favored
Other Impact Favorites
Intriguing Longshots

The NFL season is right around the corner, which means it’s just about time to start putting in futures bets.

Among the player futures that give fans value is the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, since the odds are generally favorable if you can successfully choose the eventual winner.

The Offensive Rookie of the Year gets high-profile media coverage, but the DROY requires a keener eye and more research. But if you can dedicate the time and energy, the payoff could be fruitful.

Here is a look at the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year odds.

Gamewreckers favored

As the NFL has become a more pass-oriented game, defenses have adapted by employing gamewrecking defensive linemen and edge rushers/outside linebackers.

Teams pay with premium draft capital for these players, since they don’t fall off trees. The high draft picks have proven worthy since top-5 picks Will Anderson, Chase Young, Nick and Joey Bosa have each won the NFL player prop futures bet of DROY, along with fellow first-round selections Micah Parsons and Aaron Donald over the past decade.

So unsurprisingly, despite the fact no defensive players were chosen before pick No. 15, the first three defensive players selected are the favorites; and they’re all edge rushers.

Dallas Turner of the Minnesota Vikings and the Indianapolis Colts EDGE Laiatu Latu each share the shortest 2024 DROY odds at +430. Latu, picked 15th from UCLA, was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and had 23.5 sacks over two seasons with the Bruins.

Turner, selected 17th from Alabama, was the Defensive Player of the Year from the highly competitive Southeastern Conference. He had 22.5 sacks in three seasons for the Crimson Tide and had 10 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss last season.

Turner and Latu each was a first-team All-American in 2023. Following them, odds-wise, was second-team All-American Jared Verse, also an EDGE rusher who was picked 19th by the Los Angeles Rams, at +1000.

Other Impact Favorites

Turner, Latu and Verse will likely be the most noticeable rookies on the field, but they won’t be the only candidates in the mix.

Quinyon Mitchell and Terrion Arnold, cornerbacks chosen in the first round by the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions, follow the three outside rushers at +1200.

Arnold, who was Turner’s teammate at Alabama and was picked 24th overall, had five interceptions last season while helping the Crimson Tide defense finish third in passing-yards against per game (188.8). Arnold could get a profile boost playing for the Lions, who have the third-shortest odds to win the NFC on NFL betting lines.

Mitchell, picked 22nd out of Toledo, had six interceptions and 45 passes defended over his four years for the Rockets. He could be in a better position to earn Rookie of the Year consideration since he will be playing on arguably the NFC’s best team and could positively affect the Eagles, who ranked 31st in NFL team stats against the pass in 2023.

Byron Murphy, a Texas interior lineman picked 16th overall by the Seattle Seahawks, has the sixth-shortest odds at +1400. He had five sacks and was the Big XII Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2023.

Intriguing Longshots

The divide between perceived tools and actual play are especially pronounced when assessing 2024 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year odds.

Payton Wilson of North Carolina State won the Bednarik Award for national Defensive Player of the Year and Butkus Award for nation’s top linebacker in 2023, following recent top-10 draft picks like Anderson, Young and Josh Allen. But Wilson fell to the 98th overall pick, taken in the third round by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and is tied for 12th-shortest odds at +3500.

Wilson’s odds are identical to Arizona Cardinals-selected EDGE Darius Robinson from Missouri and cornerback Nate Wiggins, picked by the Baltimore Ravens from Clemson. Both Robinson and Wiggins were picked in the late first round, Nos. 27 and 30 respectively, yet have +3500 odds.

If you’re looking to wager based on fun names, Chop Robinson is a great pick at +1700 or Kool-Aid McKinstry at +4000. Robinson isn’t a longshot per se, since he was a first-round pick and has the seventh-shortest odds and will play for the Miami Dolphins.

But McKinstry, a second-round selection of the New Orleans Saints, is a fascinating pick since he has +4000 odds and was an All-American from Alabama last season.

Yet, perhaps the most interesting long shot is T’vondre Sweat at +7500. Sweat, the University of Texas interior lineman who was 2023 Big XII Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous All-American, was selected by the Tennessee Titans with the sixth pick of the second round this year.

Despite his impressive resume, Sweatt ranks tied for 27th-shortest odds and isn’t even the favorite among UT interior linemen, with Murphy landing that honor.

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