Teams across the NFL are finalizing their rosters for the 2022 season, so I am doing the same here at Pickswise. In addition to the talented group of analysts who will be gracing our airwaves to discuss the NFL, I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to our panel of sportsbook traders and data scientists who will be assisting us on our journey through this campaign. If you hear me talk about one of these sportsbooks on the air, the information is likely coming from the following sources. Make no mistake, I could not do my job witho ut their help and collaboration. Thank you!
FanDuel: John Sheeran, Trading Director
Circa: Jeffrey Benson, Sportsbook Operations Manager
BetMGM: John Ewing and Drew O'Dell, Sportsbook Data Specialists
Caesars: Adam Pullen, Assistant Director of Trading
DraftKings: Johnny Avello, Director of Race and Sportsbook Operations
PointsBet: Micahel Korn, Trader
TwinSpires: Zachary Lucas, Director of Retail Sports
Westgate: Casey Degnon, Senior Risk Supervisor
WynnBet: John Manica, Trader
Okay enough small talk, it’s time to get to work! I reached out to our panel to learn more about which teams have been receiving the most action, who the public loves, and surprising bets from the offseason.' This was a popular column last year, and it was intriguing to see how different some of the answers were from book to book – even more so this year with nearly twice as many oddsmakers on our panel.'
Here’s what the oddsmakers are saying this year:
What is your biggest NFL team futures liability?
BetMGM: Including all futures markets, the Denver Broncos are the biggest liability. For just the Super Bowl, it’s the Buffalo Bills.
Circa: The Steelers and Raiders for the Super Bowl. The Texans and Seahawks for the conferences.'
PointsBet: Our biggest liability is the Vikings. Our most-bet teams to win are: the Bills (17% of the bet count), Bucs (11%) and Chiefs (8%).
TwinSpires: The top 3 in order are the Ravens, Bengals and Bills.
Westgate: Our biggest NFL futures liability is on the hometown Las Vegas Raiders to win the Super Bowl. They opened at 40/1 and are now 25/1.
WynnBET: Our biggest liability is the Washington Commanders. We took a few bets at 100/1 and then moved to 75/1. We are now at 70/1, and have been taking smaller action on them all the way down. We are not high on Carson Wentz, however he will be the best quarterback that they have had in recent times.
What is your biggest NFL player futures liability?
BetMGM: Russell Wilson for MVP is the biggest liability for the player awards.
Caesars: Jameis Winston has been well backed for MVP (90/1) and most passing yards (30/1). Trey Lance (50/1) is second to Winston for MVP even though he hasn't been fully in charge of a team yet. He's on a good team with a good defense so he doesn't have to be perfect.
Circa: Jalen Tolbert and Zamir White for Rookie of the Year. Dan Campbell and Nathaniel Hackett for Coach of the Year. Davante Adams and Trey Lance for MVP.'
PointsBet: Trey Lance and Jalen Hurts are two of our biggest liabilities to win MVP. We opened Hurts at +4000 and are now down to +2200. We opened Lance at +8000 and he’s now +4000.'
TwinSpires: Lamar Jackson MVP at 18/1. He is our most-bet player in the MVP futures market.
Westgate: Our biggest player liability is on Mr. Gadget Taysom Hill to win MVP. We opened him at 5,000/1 and are down to 500/1 just based on liability. Next in line is new Colts quarterback Matt Ryan for MVP. We opened at 100/1 and are now down to 60/1.'
What was the most surprising NFL bet you took this offseason?'
BetMGM: $1,010 to win $152,510 on the Lions to win the Super Bowl at +15000.
Caesars: Nothing really surprises me anymore, especially after last year with the Bengals having incredibly long odds and making it to the Super Bowl. You can't say any bet is crazy. You could say a large bet on the Texans (300/1) might be. What happened last year that gets people excited about those teams with longer odds. It adds to people's excitement, thinking if the Bengals can do it maybe the Lions or the Jets could do it.
PointsBet: $1,000 at +20000 on the Jets to win it all. As a Jets fan I know this is a donation.
TwinSpires: The amount of Houston Texans Super Bowl tickets we have. I have no idea what they're seeing. I would be shocked if they win more than 6 games.
Westgate: Those Taysom Hill MVP bets were interesting to see. Once you have a year of experience in this business almost nothing that comes across the bet ticker is surprising – you see it all.'
Read Jared Smith’s best betting strategies for the 2022 NFL season
Which NFL team is the most popular bet to win their division?
DraftKings: Buffalo Bills.'
BetMGM: The Eagles are the most popular team to win the NFC East. They have 61% of the tickets and 71.4% of the handle. The Eagles opened at +300 to win the division and are now +190.
PointsBet: Rams to win the NFC West, Colts to win the AFC South, and Eagles to win the NFC East are all very popular bets. Each team is accounting for more than 50% of the bet count for their divisions.
TwinSpires:' LA Rams by far. They have eight times the tickets and six times the money compared to the second most bet team in their division. We're at +125 for them to win the NFC West.