The one likelihood in this year’s NFL Draft is a quarterback will be taken up top.
The Bears have control of the No. 1 pick, and the belief is they will trade the pick, or they could trade Justin Fields and draft his replacement. But there are multiple analysts who are conducting their mock drafts as if Chicago keeps the pick, and defensive lineman Jalen Carter has been the consistent pick.
Other mock drafts project for trades, and CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso did just that in his latest mock draft that was released Tuesday. He didn’t stop there and even laid out how he believes the quarterback market will play out.
He prefaced that his mock draft envisions Derek Carr to the New York Jets, Aaron Rodgers to the Las Vegas Raiders, Lamar Jackson to the Atlanta Falcons, Ryan Tannehill to the New Orleans Saints and Jimmy Garoppolo to the Tennessee Titans.
For his mock draft, Trapasso had the Indianapolis Colts trading up to the No. 1 slot, but not to draft Bryce Young as the consensus has, but to draft Florida Gators product Anthony Richardson.
“I think Richardson is going to emphatically remove the lid from Lucas Oil Stadium at the NFL combine,” Trappasso wrote. “That will lead to the Colts taking a chance on him, given the hiring of former (Philadelphia) Eagles Shane Steichen as head coach. Richardson has similarities to Jalen Hurts and All-Pro upside.”
The analysis is sound, but it would be strange for Indianapolis to trade up for a quarterback who NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah has mocked to the Detroit Lions at No. 18.
But owner Jim Irsay is not one to subscribe to groupthink. Jeff Saturday was his team’s interim head coach last season, after all.
If you want to tail this decision, DraftKings Sportsbook has the best odds for Richardson to be the No. 1 overall pick at 30-1. This means a $100 bet would pay out $3,100. The odds at BetMGM shortened from 10-1 to 7-1 after the CBS mock draft made the rounds on social media.
DraftKings also has quarterback props for the NFL draft. Richardson has 15-1 odds to be the first quarterback taken. This means a $100 bet pays out $1,600.
Is this likely to happen? Analysts and experts would say no, but the earlier you can get this bet in the better, especially before the dominoes in the QB market start to fall before the NFL Draft starts.
There are worse bets to throw out there, so throwing a long-shot wager at Richardson could prove worthwhile come April.
