What a week for Shedeur Sanders in the betting market.
Sportsbooks offer positional over/unders in the NFL Draft based on where oddsmakers and bettors believe a player will be drafted. An over/under of 3.5 for a player, for example, means that if the player was drafted at No. 4 or later, the over would hit; if the player was drafted in the top three picks, the under would hit.
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Sanders’ over/under opened at 8.5, but several sportsbooks moved it all the way to 21.5 on Wednesday, and some of them reported getting «one-way action on the over.»
The Pittsburgh Steelers (holding pick No. 21) became the odds-on favorite to draft Sanders at -145 at BetMGM on Thursday morning, in part because they need a starting quarterback and because they don’t own a second-round pick after trading for D.K. Metcalf this offseason.
But the Steelers chose to address the defensive line at No. 21, going with DT Derrick Harmon from Oregon. The New York Giants traded back up into the first round to take Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart at No. 25, and Sanders slid out of the first round entirely. That means every bettor who wagered on Sanders’ over — be it at 8.5, 14.5 or 21.5 — cashed his or her ticket.
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It’s a precipitous fall for Sanders, who opened as the favorite last year at BetMGM to be drafted No. 1 overall and now will have to wait until Friday night to hear his name called.
FanDuel Sportsbook has the Cleveland Browns as the odds-on favorite to draft Sanders at -155 odds, while DraftKings has the Browns as the -250 favorite. FanDuel also has Sanders as the -125 favorite to be the first pick of Round 1 (No. 33 overall) by the Browns, followed by TreVeyon Henderson (+500) and Mason Taylor (+600).
Cleveland owns the first and fourth picks in Friday’s Round 2 (Nos. 33 and 36).
The Las Vegas Raiders (+350) and New Orleans Saints (+550) are the two teams with the next-best odds at sportsbooks to draft Sanders. The Raiders own pick No. 37, while the Saints have No. 40.
