Will the Texans win the Super Bowl? NFL Draft trade for Alabama’s Anderson Jr. boosts futures odds
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We expected the NFL Draft to be full of surprises, but most couldn’t have predicted the Texans to shock us early on with a trade to snag a Crimson Tide defensive legend.
Houston was sure to pick a quarterback for the second pick of the draft, although many predicted they would take Will Levis from Kentucky. Instead, they chose Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud to lead their offense, while Levis has to wait for the later rounds to find a home.
Alabama alum and top edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. was slated to be picked third by the majority of mock drafts out there, which Arizona held until moments before the pick was made, as the Texans worked out a trade to snag the third pick. This allowed them to snag the defensive game-changer that new Texans head coach and former Alabama alumni himself, DeMeco Ryans, can use as the centerpiece of a revamped defense.
Texans Super Bowl odds shift heavily after trade to get Anderson Jr.
While the biggest surprise of the draft went down on Thursday night, the biggest betting surprise came shortly after and carried through the night.
It was mostly expected that Houston would be taking a quarterback with their second pick, so their 2024 Super Bowl odds didn’t change all that much across the board. Leading up to the draft, you could easily find them within DraftKings NFL Futures odds at around +20000, which was also the norm across other sportsbooks.
Once the trade for the third pick and the subsequent drafting of Will Anderson Jr. went down, we started seeing their FanDuel Super Bowl odds moving down hard, which are currently +11000 at the time of writing this article. However, you can still find improved odds at other sportsbooks.
Here are the latest Texans Super Bowl futures odds:
QB Bryce Young tilts Panthers NFL Futures odds after NFL Draft
It wasn’t a surprise that the Carolina Panthers drafted Bryce Young to be their franchise quarterback. What was a surprise was seeing their NFL Futures odds shift after the pick was made official.
Even though they made it no secret that Young was their guy, Carolina Super Bowl odds stayed at or around +7500 before the draft. Once the pick was made, the odds moved across most sportsbooks, and can be as low as +5000 at BetMGM.
The Panthers winning the NFC outright went wild as well, as pre-draft was around +3000 but now can be found as low as +2000. Even winning the NFC South looks brighter for them, as they surpassed the Falcons for second-best odds at +250, which was +380 not more than a week ago.
Alabama players still weren’t done impacting NFL betting odds for the night.
Lions shock the NFL world by drafting Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs at 12
Will Anderson Jr. being drafted by the Texans wasn’t the only shocking Alabama-related pick of the night, as we witnessed former Crimson Tide RB Jahmyr Gibbs picked by the Detroit Lions at No. 12.
This came after the Lions traded their sixth pick to the Cardinals (who had traded their third pick to the Texans earlier) for their 12th and 34th picks. And with Bijan Robinson off the board and headed to the Falcons, the Lions decided to snag Gibbs as soon as they could get him.
Considering Gibbs’ quote about being expected to be drafted in the 20s, I’m sure it came as a shock and as a relief that Detroit coveted him enough to spend an early pick on him.
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The Lions have a stacked backfield already with D’Andre Swift and David Montgomery, who both possess great running ability and excellent pass-catching skills out of the backfield. But how does Gibbs fit into that equation? Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery spelled the choice out well, lending credibility to Jahmyr being an offensive game-changer beyond simply being a running back.
“You’ve got to look at it several ways. (Gibbs) is bringing a value also in the passing game that is a large, large value. And then you add that to what he can do from a dynamic standpoint in the run game, and at the end of the day, it is about value.”
Lions Super Bowl betting odds in the top 10 after Jahmyr Gibbs draft pick
After starting out the 2023 NFL offseason as a +3500 to win the Super Bowl, the Lions odds started to shift in their favor throughout the offseason. Concentrating on shoring up their defense through free agency got the ball rolling, but the drafting of Jahmyr Gibbs expedited the process.
The Lions currently have the 10th-best odds to win the Super Bowl at a +2200. Not surprising considering the competition in the division, they’re also heavy favorites to win the NFC North, with DraftKings putting them at a +140.
No matter how you slice it, Crimson Tide football has left their mark on 2023 NFL betting lines without even playing a professional down.
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