Any Good NFL Futures Bets After Round 1 of the Draft?
Draft Grades are Way too Premature, But Some Teams Have Definitely Improved
Round 1 of the pro football draft is in the books which means the obvious next step is to take a look at NFL futures bets. It’s way, way, way too early to tell which teams have improved their championship odds after acquiring new players – but that’s what is called getting ahead of the market.
Here are some teams who have improved their shot at a Super Bowl title after the 1st round of the 2020 NFL draft:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12:1
The Bucs have been climbing up the odds to win the 2020 Super Bowl after acquiring Tom Brady as well as Rob Gronkowski in the last few weeks. Tampa Bay made a trade with San Francisco to move into the #13 spot to select Iowa T Tristan Wirfs giving Brady some much-needed protection.
Minnesota Vikings 28:1
Minnesota had a great first night of the draft as much for as what they did and what their NFC North competitors did not do. The Vikings replaced the departed Stefon Diggs with LSU’s Justin Jefferson. The former Tigers WR had that amazing 14 catch, 227 yard, 4TD performance vs. Oklahoma in the CFP.
Minnesota also accounted for the losses of Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes in free agency by grabbing Jeff Gladney with pick 31. The Vikings appear to be in a great spot in the NFC North after Detroit had to use the #3 pick on Jeff Okudah just to replace the departed Darius Slay. The Bears didn’t even have a 1st round pick and Green Bay used the #26 pick on QB of the future Jordan Love who offers no immediate improvement to the Packers this season.
Cincinnati Bengals 200:1
Cincinnati got their guy with Joe Burrow with the top overall pick. There are sure to be some learning curves for the new “Tiger King” but he’s very seasoned at 23 years of age. Burrow also comes into some talent as the Bengals have Tyler Boyd, A.J. Green, John Ross III, and Joe Mixon already in place.
This bet has great ROI, but Cincinnati does have a very tough conference featuring Baltimore and Pittsburgh as well as matchups with the Titans, Eagles, Cowboys, Texans, and Colts to name a few. Even so, the “Joe Exotic” magic is a thing.
Dallas Cowboys 12:1
Dallas will have one of the most explosive offenses in the NFC (on paper) after adding Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb with the #17 pick. Lamb was the 3rd WR taken, but he should have great matchups as a rookie with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup commanding a lot of opposing defenses attention. Cowboys fans will say their biggest addition of the offseason has been the subtraction of coach Jason Garrett which is why you like the odds here.
Kansas City Chiefs 4:1
Most draft experts figured the Chiefs were going to shore up their defense with the #32 pick since their offense was pretty much maxed out – or at the very least take an OL for added protection for Patrick Mahomes. KC did the opposite and added yet another skill position player in LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Edwards-Helaire ran for 1414 yards last season but also caught 55 balls out of the backfield for another 453. The Chiefs backfield already had Damian Wiliams who scored a combined 6 TDs in 3 playoff games last season as well as all the talent in the passing game. 4:1 odds here seem like a gift.
