We are just one day away from the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. While most of our attention is being paid to who our favorite team drafts or which players are landing in interesting sports for their fantasy value, we can also have a little fun with prop betting.
In each NFL Draft, there are always avenues to bet not just on who will be picked when but also on how many players at a certain position will be picked in the first round or who the first pick at a position will be.
Below, we’ll walk you through some of our favorite prop bets for first-round action on Thursday night.
2022 NFL Draft Prop Bets
Number Three Overall Pick
Let’s go off the board here and say it’s going to be Evan Neal, who has +1000 odds. I expect Travon Walker and Aidan Hutchinson to be the first picks off of the board, which will give Houston their top choice at offensive tackle, where I think they will likely go. Obviously, the odds would favor Ikem Ekwonu, but the pedigree of an Alabama product will swing the favor in Neal’s direction. You can also take Evan Neal to be the first offensive player drafted at +350 odds.
Offensive Lineman Drafted in the First Round
Piggybacking off of our first prop, let’s say that we take the over on 7.5 offensive linemen drafted in the first round (+160). When we did our mock draft last week exactly seven offensive linemen were drafted in the first round. Since then we’ve heard more than a few rumors about teams wanting to take linemen early in a draft that features minimal dynamic offensive talent. Since teams are always looking for good, low-cost help on the offensive line, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that play out this year.
First QB Drafted
I’m gonna say the choice here is Kenny Pickett. I know Willis is exciting and has tremendous upside, but NFL teams have historically favored the “safer” QBs early in the draft, which also usually means QBs from higher-profile teams. Kenny Pickett’s stock has been on the rise, and I just really think he’s going to be the first signal-caller we see selected. If you want to be even more specific with it, you can bet that he gets taken 6th overall by the Carolina Panthers (+500). I just don’t see any of the other teams ahead of Carolina taking a QB, and I’m not sure any QB in this class is so drastically better than the others that somebody will trade up to leapfrog the Panthers.
Number of WRs Drafted in the First Round
With this one, I’m gonna take the over on 5.5 wide receivers drafted in the first round (+215). If you read our position breakdown on wide receivers then you know that we had to extend the total to seven players to encapsulate all the possible first-round options: Jameson Williams, Garrett Wilson, Chis Olave, Treylon Burks, George Pickett, Drake London, and Skyy Moore. That doesn’t even include Jahan Dotson, who some people believe could be an option at the end of the round. So if we have seven or eight possible options, I think it’s a strong bet that we can get six in the first round. This just isn’t a draft with tons of early-round offensive talent at other positions, so I think we’ll see a lot of teams look to make a move for these receivers.
First WR Drafted
If you want more receiver fun then I think you can lay some money down on Jameson Williams as the first wide receiver taken. Williams would have easily been the first name off of the board had he not hurt himself in the College Football Playoffs. With teams seemingly feeling good about where his recovery is at, we’ve been hearing more rumors that he will go early on Thursday night. Given his immense upside if/when he makes a full recovery, that’s not such a crazy assumption.
You can find plenty more options over at DraftKings or FanDuel, so make sure to check out the full list of potential props if you wanna add a little more intrigue to your Thursday night.
