Walker Edges Out Hutchinson On NFL Draft Odds Board
New No. 1 Favorite for Top Overall Pick
Odds Have Walker as Top Dawg
It’s the beginning of NFL Draft Week. And do you know what that means? The NFL Draft Odds board went into chaos with Aidan Hutchinson, the consensus first overall pick by many mock drafts, taking a sharp drop and Travon Walker now siting as the favorite to be chosen No. 1.
University of Georgia product Walker has unseated Hutchinson as the top pick per the latest NFL Draft odds betting reports. There were rumors in the past few weeks that Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke preferred Walker over Hutchinson.
Notable NFL analyst and FOX Sports senior national writer Peter Schrager went with that rumor and put Walker as his top pick in the second version of his NFL Mock Draft.
However, that was a few weeks ago and with the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft just three sleeps away, it seems the line movement is revealing that there is some weight to that “rumor.”
If we look at the numbers, Hutchinson is the more productive player. His 17.5 sacks and 27.5 tackles for loss beat out Walker’s 9.5 and 13.0, respectively. However, Walker is a physical specimen and has the edge in weight, length and wingspan.
Either way, both Hutchinson and Walker are can’t-miss prospects at the edge position and both will likely be top-three selections.
We experienced something similar last year when the San Francisco 49ers were linked to either Mac Jones or Trey Lance with their first-round pick. San Francisco traded up to the third slot and was in the market for a quarterback. The question was: who?
Jones was still a heavy favorite to be picked by the Niners on the eve of the draft with Lance listed as a distant runner-up. However, as the day went by, Lance flipped the odds and became the favorite with Jones as the underdog.
Ultimately, the line movement proved accurate as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Trey Lance as the third overall pick later that evening. Do we have a similar case here with the Jacksonville Jaguars?
Reports out of Jacksonville still indicate the team is not decided on who to select with the No. 1 overall pick. So if you keep an eye on these 2022 NFL Draft odds, it could still change.
