Online Sportsbooks Expand Your Options for Betting on the NFL Draft

Avid NFL bettors are always looking for action to wager on even when the start of a new season is still months away. The biggest opportunity to cash in a few winning tickets at your favorite online sportsbook in the middle of the offseason would be at the end of April when the league holds its annual draft.

The 2018 NFL Draft in Dallas is set to get underway on Thursday night, April 26 with the first 32 picks of the opening round. The next two rounds will take place on Friday night and the final four rounds will be held on Saturday afternoon. This year’s crop of college players is deep in the quarterback position which always adds even more excitement to the proceedings.

It was not all that long ago that betting on the draft consisted of a handful of prop bets surrounding just the first round of picks. The biggest speculation each year focused on which player would the first overall pick. Over the years, many of the top online sportsbooks began to expand these options with a full set of odds for a whole grocery list of propositions bets. Heading into this year’s draft, you can bet on everything from the first overall pick to whether Mr. Irrelevant (the last player taken in the draft) will play offense or defense.

Betting on the NFL Draft at an online bookie is a fun way to make the whole event more interesting, but it is also a good way to add some money to your overall NFL bankroll well in advance of a new season of games. While nobody can predict exactly what will take place on the first night of the draft as the opening round unfolds, there are a few basic props that offer great value in the posted betting odds.

Two good examples of finding the best value in the odds in this year’s draft would be for total number of quarterbacks and total number of running backs drafted in the first round. While anything can happen on Thursday night, especially in the later picks of the first round, but the general consensus is that five quarterbacks and two running backs will come off the board in the first 32 picks. Trying to predict the OVER/UNDER on the draft position of an individual player is a much tough prop to cash in on.

It also pays to shop some of these draft props from one book to the next. Book A might have the OVER/UNDER on quarterbacks drafted in the first round set at 5, while Book B has betting odds posted for 5.5. The value in this scenario is with five since it sets up the possibility of a PUSH. This, in turn, makes a play on the OVER at higher odds much more attractive.

Another great reason for shopping the books for NFL props is that you are bound to find a few betting options that are unique to each one. This may take some extra time and effort on your part but finding the best value in the posted odds or finding a unique prop that has value in the numbers is the best way to make money betting on this event.

You do not have to be a NFL expert to prepare for the draft. There is a wealth of information on this year’s crop of players as well on when each one is expected to come off the board. While there are way too many mock drafts from way too many so-called NFL experts, gathering a general consensus from all these predictions can paint a fairly clear picture of how things should play out.