With the NFL season now less than two weeks away, pending any major outbreaks, the attention will once again return to the action on the field. Maybe more than ever, sportsbooks are offering a ton of season-long future props for bettors to get down on and sweat throughout the season.
One such bet, offered by our friends over at FanDuel, is focused around correctly predicting the exact position a team will finish within their division. Historically you’ve always been able to bet on division winners, but this unique prop takes the action a step further with the ability to bet on second, third, and last team finishers.
Let’s take a closer look at three positions I see value in as the season quickly approaches.
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Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Second +140
In easily the two biggest moves of this pandemic-stricken offseason were the relocations of two of New England’s finest to Tampa Bay in Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. Second-year head coach, the offensive-minded Bruce Arians, is licking his chops at the prospect of pairing stud wide receiver Mike Evans with Brady and Gronk.
While both are certainly an upgrade, I still see this as New Orleans’ division as long as Drew Brees and Sean Payton are in it. With an upgraded defense, I like the Saints to repeat as winners, but see the Falcons on the way down and Panthers in rebuilding mode as the perfect spot for the Bucs to grab the runner up in the NFC South.
Pittsburgh Steelers – Second +125
In what could be the last or second to last season of Big Ben’s career, the Steelers are all in on win-now mode. Even without Roethlisberger, this Steeler team managed to go 8-8 with a QB carousel and season-long injuries to their starting running back (Conner) and WR1 (Smith-Schuster).
The defense, which ranked top 10 in nearly every major defensive category last season, is even more improved with Mikah Fitzpatrick now having a full offseason under his belt and a healthy Stephone Tuitt back in the lineup.
Looking at the division at large, there’s no doubt it’s the Ravens to lose as they come into the season with an MVP-level quarterback (approaching?) his prime and championship-caliber defense. I fully expect the Bengals to be one of the league’s teams once again, and as for the Browns? Well, they are indeed still the Browns.
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TJ Perun is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from TJ, check out his archive and follow him @JohnnyCovers.