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NFL Draft Betting: Who Will Be the Second Wide Receiver Drafted?

Nicholas Vazquez
Nicholas Vazquez@nickvaz

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NFL Draft Betting: Who Will Be the Second Wide Receiver Drafted?

April in the football world means it's time for the NFL Draft hype to build, and then finally reach a conclusion at the end of the month. You may not think of the NFL Draft as a betting opportunity, but there are several different markets that we can potentially find value.

Today, we're going to look at the wide receivers. This is a deep class -- arguably the deepest we've seen in a decade.

We're going to look beyond the top pick and look at the second receiver off the board. When you have three prospects as elite as the top three receivers, you still have a chance of getting a franchise-altering talent.

Here's the odds to be the second wide receiver drafted, via the NFL Draft odds on FanDuel Sportsbook:

Player
Odds
Malik Neighbors-220
Rome Odunze+340
Marvin Harrison Jr+470

Malik Nabers, LSU (-230)

Malik Nabers joins a long list of fantastic LSU WR prospects over the last 10 years. The most recent example being Ja'Marr Chase, who was drafted fifth overall in 2021.

Nabers had a great season as a true junior. He accrued 1,569 yards on 89 catches and 14 touchdowns in LSU's explosive offense.

When looking a bit deeper into his numbers, the case for him only gets better. He had a college target share of 31.9%, which put him in the 94th percentile according to PlayerProflier.com. He also broke out at age 19.1 -- in the 86th percentile for a wide receiver.

Nabers athletic testing was also elite. He ran a 4.35 yard 40-yard dash at his pro day. His size-adjusted speed score was in the 84th percentile while his burst score was in the 98th percentile.

In a lot of other drafts -- including the past two -- Nabers would likely be the slam dunk best receiver in the class. This year, there are arguably three guys that could be the first receiver off the board in most classes.

Nabers is the favorite to go second because he's an elite prospect but comes in just behind one of the other players we will talk about that will likely prevent him from going first.

Right now, Nabers has the shortest odds to go fifth overall and the shortest odds to go sixth. Those picks are currently held by the Los Angeles Chargers and New York Giants, respectively. Both of them could use a wide receiver.

Rome Odunze, Washington (+340)

He may not be the top receiver in this class, but don't sleep on Rome Odunze.

Odunze's 2023 season at Washington was seriously impressive and ended with a loss in the playoff final to Michigan. He peaked as a senior with 1553 yards and 13 touchdowns. Sometimes, the fact that a receiver didn't enter the draft as a junior is a warning sign, but Odunze only played two games in his freshman season, so he really only played three seasons.

Odunze is 6 '3", 212 pounds and ran a 4.45 40 yard dash. That resulted in a size-adjusted speed score in the 93rd percentile.

Looking at some mock draft data, it's somewhat hard to think that Odunze will be the second receiver drafted. According to Grinding the Mocks, his average draft position is 8.2. That's significantly behind the two wide receivers above him.

It's still possible a team falls in love with Odunze and selects him second, but it's not where I would place my money in this market.

Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State (+470)

Now, we get to the best wide receiver prospect in the class. The son of legendary WR Marvin Harrison, Marvin Harrison Jr. has been set to be a high draft pick for a few years now.

Harrison Jr. had tremendous production his final two seasons at Ohio State. He caught 144 passes and 28 touchdowns over those two years. During his last season, MHJ had an incredible 47.9% dominator rating, which is a metric that measures a player's yards and touchdown relative to his team.

He didn't run any of the athletic tests because he let his performance on the field do the talking. He's projected to be the first non-quarterback drafted by nearly every mock draft.

However, there is a case to be made for him to be the second receiver selected. Nabers' speed was so impressive that it may cause a team to fall in love with him over MHJ. It's also been reported that some teams have Nabers ahead of Harrison Jr., according to Adam Schefter.

Schefter is obviously one of the most reliable sources we have for NFL information, so I have to take what he says at face value. If that is the case, +470 for Harrison is enough value to consider it based on that report.

If you are betting on Harrison Jr. to be the second receiver off the board, you might as well bet on Nabers to be the first WR selected as well at +400. That seems to be an order that is at least possible and would result in quite the payout if you bet both of them.


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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.

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