NFL Draft Betting Tips and Picks

The NFL has a long offseason, leaving bettors without something to pay attention to for at least six months every year.
In recent years, betting on the NFL Draft has become popular as bettors look to fill the void of NFL football games by wagering on events having to do with the sport and league they love.
The 2022 NFL Draft was held on April 28 through April 30, 2022.
The first round of the draft took place in primetime on Thursday,

April 28, followed by Rounds 2 and 3 in primetime on Friday, April 30, and Rounds 4 through 7 on Saturday afternoon, April 30.
If you've never bet on the NFL Draft before, know that it is much different than betting on NFL games during the season.
After all, you'll be betting on how NFL teams act during a draft that involves picking college football players to play on their team, rather than on the outcome of actual games.

Here are some NFL Draft betting tips and picks that can help you if you're looking to bet on the NFL Draft.

NFL Draft Betting Tip #1 First Player Drafted

One of the most popular bets for the NFL Draft is betting on which player will be drafted first overall. This is a fairly straightforward bet.
You simply bet on which player that you believe will be selected with the first pick in this year's NFL Draft.
Unless a trade occurs between now and when the first draft choice is announced on Thursday night, April 28, the Jacksonville Jaguars will be making the draft's first selection -- just as they did last year.

This year, there are a number of players who are being discussed as possibilities for the Jaguars to take.
This is unlike last year, when it was a foregone conclusion that Jacksonville would be taking Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
The Jaguars are rumored to be interested in either one of the top defensive ends or top offensive tackles that are available.
That means the Jaguars NFL draft picks could be amongst these four players:

DE Aidan Hutchinson, University of Michigan: +165
OT Evan Neal, University of Alabama: +175
DE Kayvon Thibodeaux, University of Oregon: +350
OT Ikem Ekwonu, NC State University: +400

Of course, the Jaguars could surprise NFL Draft pundits and take another player not listed here, but the sportsbooks certainly think these are the four most likely players to be chosen with the first overall pick.

NFL Draft Betting Tip #2 Position of Team's First Pick

Another popular bet to make is predicting which position a particular team will take with their first pick in the NFL Draft. For this bet, you'll be placing a bet on the position that the team will take with their first pick in the draft -- regardless of when that pick takes place, and regardless of the particular player that they select.

For this example, let's take a look at the Philadelphia Eagles.
Right now, the Eagles have three picks in the first round of the NFL Draft -- #15, #16 and #19.
If the Eagles don't make any trades, the position of the player they take at #15 is the one that will matter for this bet.
If the Eagles do make a trade -- if they either trade up or down from #15 -- whichever player they select with their first pick is the one that will apply to this bet.

The available bets might look like this…

Wide Receiver +140
Defensive Back +180
Offensive Lineman +600
Defensive Lineman +1000

NFL Draft Betting Tip #3 Over/unders in NFL Draft betting

Over unders for the NFL Draft work similarly as totals on a particular NFL game during the season.
Online sportsbooks in Canada will set an over/under line for how many players from a particular position are taken in the first round.
Then, you would bet on whether you think more or fewer players from that position will be drafted in the first round.

One of the most common positions to bet on an over/under in the first round is quarterback.
This is not predicted to be a quarterback-heavy first round.
That being said, there could be as many as three or four quarterbacks taken in the first round.
As such, sportsbooks might set a line like this for quarterbacks taken in the First Round:

Over 3.5 +550
Under 3.5 -700

NFL Draft Betting Tip #4 Player Draft Slot

Another popular NFL Draft bet is on whether a specific player will be drafted by a certain slot in the draft.
For this bet, it won't matter which team drafts the particular player in question, but rather which draft slot they are selected by.

For this example, we'll use Malik Willis from Liberty, who is projected by many draft pundits to be the first quarterback selected in this year's NFL Draft.
A sportsbook might set the draft slot position to bet on at 9.5, with odds that look like this:

Under -150
Over +175

For this bet, if you bet on the Under, you believe that Willis will be taken by Round 1 Pick 9 or earlier. If you bet on the Over, Willis would need to be drafted by Round 1 Pick 10 or later.
When you're trying to make a decision here, you'll need to look at two things. First, decide whether you believe that Willis will indeed be the first quarterback taken in the NFL Draft this year.
If you don't believe he'll be the first one drafted, then you might consider betting on the Over, since it might be unlikely this year that two quarterbacks are taken in the first 10 picks.

If you do believe Willis will be the first quarterback drafted, then you'll want to look at the teams that are slotted to make a selection in Picks 1-9.
This year, most of the first seven teams are unlikely to pick a quarterback.
The Jaguars (#1) and Jets (#4) selected a quarterback early in the first round last year, and the Detroit Lions (#2) and New York Giants (#5 and #7) are unlikely to select a quarterback, either.

The Houston Texas (#3) are unlikely to select a quarterback since they have so many other needs, and the Carolina Panthers (#6) are rumored to be trying to sign a free agent quarterback or trade for one.
That leaves the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks at picks #8 and #9, respectively, as the most likely to take a quarterback in the first round.
If you think one might take Willis, bet the Under. If not, take the Over.

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