NFL Rookie of the Year odds are unique on the futures board for one reason: nobody betting them has seen the players play a professional down. The market is pricing draft capital, landing spot and camp reports, nothing more. That makes these two boards, offensive and defensive, the most opinion-friendly markets of the summer, and the most likely to look silly by October. Both boards are below, with the history that explains what actually wins. 21+ in most states.
Offensive Rookie of the Year odds
Odds from DraftKings, checked 9 August 2026. Prices move on every depth chart rumor from here to Week 1.
| Player | Odds | Implied chance |
|---|---|---|
| Jeremiyah Love | +425 | 19.0% |
| Fernando Mendoza | +550 | 15.4% |
| Carnell Tate | +550 | 15.4% |
| Jordyn Tyson | +600 | 14.3% |
| Jadarian Price | +650 | 13.3% |
| Makai Lemon | +1100 | 8.3% |
Read the implied chances against what the award’s history demands: a featured role from the opening weekend. Love’s price says the market believes he starts and carries the load immediately. Every name below him is some blend of talent and playing-time doubt, and the doubt is the discount.
Defensive Rookie of the Year odds
| Player | Odds | Implied chance |
|---|---|---|
| David Bailey | +500 | 16.7% |
| Rueben Bain Jr. | +500 | 16.7% |
| Sonny Styles | +750 | 11.8% |
| Caleb Downs | +750 | 11.8% |
| Arvell Reese | +800 | 11.1% |
| Mansoor Delane | +950 | 9.5% |
The defensive board is flatter than the offensive one, which is honest: defensive rookie production is harder to project because it depends on scheme fit and snap counts that coaches decide in September, not August. Two co-favorites at +500 is the market admitting it does not know.
What actually wins the rookie awards
Volume, visible early. The offensive history is a parade of quarterbacks and high-touch skill players, because voters reward counting stats and quarterbacks accumulate them by default. On defense the shortcut is sacks: pass rushers and downhill linebackers own the recent list because their best plays are the ones highlight shows run. A brilliant rookie corner who erases his side of the field all year is invisible by comparison, and the betting market prices that bias correctly.
The other filter is opportunity. Rookies drafted onto bad teams start sooner and stack numbers faster, which is why the award so often goes to a high pick on a struggling roster. Winning these markets is less about scouting the player than scouting the depth chart in front of him.
Recent winners
| Season | Offensive Rookie of the Year | Defensive Rookie of the Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Tetairoa McMillan | Carson Schwesinger |
| 2024 | Jayden Daniels | Jared Verse |
| 2023 | C.J. Stroud | Will Anderson Jr. |
| 2022 | Garrett Wilson | Sauce Gardner |
| 2021 | Ja’Marr Chase | Micah Parsons |
| 2020 | Justin Herbert | Chase Young |
Six seasons, and the pattern holds: quarterbacks and pass catchers with immediate volume on one side, front-seven defenders with sack and tackle production on the other. When your candidate does not fit the profile, you are not betting the award; you are betting that the voters change.
How to bet it
Playing time first, talent second. Before betting any name on either board, answer one question: is this player a locked-in Week 1 starter? If the answer is anything but yes, the price needs to be long enough to pay for the risk that he is not. Camp news settles most of these questions by late August, so the fortnight before kickoff is the sweet spot where real information exists and prices have not fully absorbed it. Shop the number across the books in our NFL sportsbook ranking before taking anything, and remember the whole exercise sits inside the wider NFL futures board, where the same timing logic applies to every market.
NFL Rookie of the Year odds FAQ
Jeremiyah Love leads the offensive board at +425 with DraftKings at the time of writing, with David Bailey and Rueben Bain Jr. sharing favoritism on the defensive side at +500. All of it moves through camp and the preseason.
The Associated Press splits the honor into Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, and sportsbooks price them as two separate markets. There is no single combined award, so a rookie of the year bet is always one board or the other.
Tetairoa McMillan took the offensive award and Carson Schwesinger the defensive one for the 2025 season.
On offense, whoever touches the ball most: quarterbacks and running backs dominate the history, with receivers winning when their volume is unmissable. On defense it skews to pass rushers and instant-impact linebackers, because sacks are the stat voters can see from the couch.
At NFL Honors during Super Bowl week in February, judged on the regular season only.
Only if you have a conviction about playing time, because that is what settles this market. Rookies who start Week 1 win these awards; talented rookies buried on a depth chart do not. Waiting two or three weeks to see usage costs you price but buys certainty, and in this market the trade is often worth it.
21+ in most states (18+ in some) | Gambling problem? Call or text 1-800-GAMBLER | Odds shown at time of writing and subject to change; verify in the app.