The first 14 players drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft all play on the offensive side of the ball. As a result, the OROY in the upcoming season should be one of the most contested in recent history.
This award is relatively position agnostic, with 4 QBs, 3 RBs, and 3 WRs winning in the past 10 years. Last year's winner was CJ Stroud, who broke a streak of back-to-back wins by wide receivers (Ja'Marr Chase and Garrett Wilson).
Here is a look at the 6 players with +2000 odds or better:
Caleb Williams (+135)
Jayden Daniels (+550)
Marvin Harrison Jr. (+650)
JJ McCarthy (+1600)
Bo Nix (+1600)
Malik Nabers (+2000)
The early and heavy favorite in the OROY race has been and will be Caleb Williams as we lead up into the season. At +135, the odds aren’t in your favor if Williams is “your guy” this year, but with the potential to play well in all of his preseason games, +135 might be the best value you can find on a Williams ROY bet.
The pros? Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet, and D’Andre Swift are the former Heisman’s top receiving options in his rookie year - potentially one of the most potent receiving cores for a rookie in NFL history.
The cons? At +135 and with the #1 pick tag hanging over his head, defenses will come after Williams and defensive coordinators will look to that Notre Dame game where he threw four interceptions to try and get into his head. At times, Caleb would try to do too much. Should that happen again early in the season, this award will be heading into another player’s hands.
After Stroud won the award last season with 23 passing TDs and just 5 picks, the stage is set for a 30-TD season for Williams which in essence, should give him the award.
Jayden Daniels steps onto the field with high hopes for the NFC East Commanders. JD is one of the most experienced QBs coming into the league during his rookie season, highlighted by a Heisman-winning season at LSU where he led the Tigers to their best season since the Burrow-led championship run.
While he had Nabers and Thomas as two first-round receivers with LSU, he’ll learn to gain chemistry with Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson with Kliff Kingsbury as his play caller. After what we saw with Kliff in Arizona, leading Kyler Murray to some incredible individual seasons, the question isn’t if he can scheme Daniels into a positive rookie season - the question will be if he can scheme Daniels into a winning rookie season.\
Our favorite pick at the curren tbetting odds is Marvin Harrison Jr. A generational talent who will operate as the focal point of the Cardinals passing game, Harrison has a chance to finish the season with 110+ receptions which would’ve placed him inside the top 4 among receivers last season.
With the Hopkins and Hollywood Brown experiments over, the Cardinals virtually haven’t had a long-term WR1 investment since Larry Fitzgerald’s prime. After a 4-win season in which Murray missed half of the games, why not throw to Harrison Jr. 10 or more times per game. In a wideout room consisting of Michael Wilson, Trey McBride, Zay Jones, and Greg Dortch, a healthy Kyler Murray extending plays alongside a proper WR1 has a great outlook.
With James Conner approaching the later stages of his career, the draft investment in Benson should show this year for Arizona, as they look to utilize the two backs in different scenarios in a fast-paced scheme. While his start to the season could be slower, he’s a mid-season investment in fantasy and best ball that we would make.
Roman Wilson has a real shot to end up as the WR2 for the Steelers this season behind George Pickens. The Hawaiian wideout that had a fantastic career at Michigan should become the ideal short yardage target for both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields early in the season.
The 3rd round wideout is competing with Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin for playing time - in all fantasy formats and for betting purposes, Wilson is the deep wideout sleeper to keep tabs on, especially after watching Puka Nacua start as the WR2 last season for the Rams and end up with ROY consideration.