NFL Draft Odds: Jaguars’ Potential ‘Surprise’ Pick Worth Bet?

There’s a new betting favorite for the first pick in the 2022 NFL Draft: Georgia edge rusher Travon Walker.

The growing consensus among the draft-crazed portion of the NFL universe is the Jacksonville Jaguars ultimately will bet on the athletic freak’s upside and make Walker the No. 1 pick Thursday night.

Walker’s production on the best defense we’ve seen perhaps in years was, quite frankly, unimpressive. However, he has all the right traits and dazzled at the combine, so it’s not a surprise to see him as the odds-on -150 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook to go first overall.

However, it was hard to miss this nugget from NBC Sports’ Peter King in his mock draft Monday morning.

“Expect a surprise, I heard out of Jacksonville recently,” King wrote in his “Football Morning in America” column Monday morning.

Of course, King went the relatively safe route by making Walker the pick. He did admit Walker “wouldn’t be much of a surprise” before wondering whether offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu might be an option at No. 1.

Pro Football Focus also put out its mock draft Monday morning and had Walker going off the board first to the Jags. Like King, though, PFF had some eyebrow-raising intel about Jacksonville’s decision-making process.

“All signs point to general manager Trent Baalke locking into Georgia edge defender Travon Walker — not (Aiden) Hutchinson — at the top of the 2022 NFL Draft,” PFF’s Austin Gayle wrote. “The rumors are, per multiple sources, Baalke is all-in on Walker while coach Doug Pederson leans toward Ikem Ekwonu and the scouts favor Hutchinson.”

Few are as locked into the NFL draft as Matt Miller — his draft handle is “NFL draft scout,” for crying out loud — and he had a very interesting bit of information to pass along.

Here’s the thing, though: If you think Pederson ultimately can win out in his first draft with the Jaguars, you’ve gotta move quick. As of Monday morning, here’s where the market stands regarding the price you can get for Ekwonu as the No. 1 overall pick.

DraftKings: +750
FanDuel: +600
BetMGM: +1000
Caesars: +1400

At this point of the draft process, every bit of “information” must be taken with a grain of salt, but it is telling Ekwonu was as high as 16-1 as early as Monday morning. Chances are there will be even more movement leading up to Thursday night.