Nevada sportsbooks will offer prop bets on the 2018 NFL Draft, marking the second year that such bets have been allowed. The Nevada Gaming Control Board approved 32 different betting options on the draft, which gets underway Thursday, 5 pm PT, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
People in Nevada will be able to place their wagers live and online through Wednesday night — on everything from who will be picked when to what colleges will generate the most draft picks and what positions will be selected.
The number of bets GCB approved this year increased from 17 to 32. (Nevada gaming regulators say they were careful to not allow bets from its licensees that team insiders could exploit.)
The Cleveland Browns have the first pick, and are expected to take a quarterback.
Great SEC Expectations?
The South Eastern Conference is considered a football factory with powerhouse colleges such Alabama and Georgia. The prop bets reflect their influence in professional football.
The conference has a line on how many players will be drafted from there. The number of players from there selected in the first round is set at eight, with both the over and under paying -115. There is a line for how many will be taken in the first and second rounds. That number is 19.5, with the over at +130 and the under at -150.
In addition, there are prop bets on how many of players from Alabama, Georgia, and LSU will be taken in the first round, or the first and second rounds. Oddsmakers believe that more than four from Alabama will be selected with the first 32 picks. The over is -130 and the under is +110. Georgia and LSU’s bet is on the first two rounds. Georgia pays -140 for over of 4.5 and +120 for the under. LSU is at 3.5 and both the over and under are at -110.
The Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 also have lines on the total players selected. The Big 12 has an over/under of 2.5, with the under at -190 and the over at +160. The Big Ten line is 5.5, and the over is -105 and the under -115. The Pac-12 has a line of 4.5, with the over at +105 and the under at -125.
Offense vs. Defense
The focus is usually on offensive players and that is especially true this year with team’s looking at five or six possible quarterbacks being taken in the first round. The over/under is set at five, with the over at -140 and the under at +120.
How many running backs and wide receivers go in the first round is also listed. Penn State tailback Sequon Barkley is expected to be a top 4 pick, and one of Georgia’s two running backs could also find a team in the first round. The line is 1.5 and the over is the favorite at -185. The under is at +165.
Oddsmakers think the two wide receivers will be picked and set the line at 2.5. The under is at -130, while the over is +110. Calvin Ridley of Alabama and Maryland’s DJ Moore are expected to be a first rounder, but one mock draft has SMU’s Courtland Sutton taken at No. 32 and the over hitting.
How many offensive players versus defensive players drafted in the first and second rounds is available. More offensive players are expected to be taken in the first round, with the line at -115, as opposed to -105 for defensive players.