Kyler Murray was last season’s Heisman Trophy winner and No 1 draft pick. It’s no surprise then that he entered the NFL’s pre-season run last week as 2019-2020 ‘Offensive Rookie’ favorite.
Ahead of the NFL’s first pre-season weekend, he was the Award favorite at around +180 on most New Jersey sportsbooks
That weekend has now come and gone – and guess what. The Arizona Cardinals quarterback graduate from Oklahoma Sooners is still the NFL’s Offensive Rookie favorite.
The odds on him have not changed all that much. Reflecting most NJ sportsbooks, he’s gone from +180 to +175 on DraftKings. He has, however, widened the gap for the rookie award between himself and his closest pursuers.
Dwayne Haskins and Josh Jacobs have gone out from +800 to +1200 and +1000 respectively on DraftKings. On FanDuel which had him at +175 and keeps him there, Haskins is down from +650 to +750 and Jacobs from +750 to +850.
Murray played his first-ever NFL game against the Los Angeles Chargers when the NFL pre-season opened last Thursday.
He completed 6 from 7 attempts for 44 yards in his one drive. The drive would have lasted longer, but his pass on a 2nd and 9 from Arizona’s 40-yard line was called back. This was because wide receiver KeeSean Johnson incurred a penalty for stepping out of bounds before catching it. Murray was sadly sacked on the very next play and his drive was done.
Murray impressed in his NFL pr-season debut
His time in action was relatively short, but he used it well in this solid start to pro football. His passing was accurate, he was impressively mobile and he was always aware of what was happening around him.
Haskins was also sent out to get his first taste of the pro game. He managed 8 completed passes in 14 attempts for 117 yards. Unfortunately he blotted his copy when he threw two interceptions. They spoiled all his good work and it is almost certainly why the odds on him have gone out.
Jacobs, the Oakland Raiders new running back graduate from Alabama, saw no action in his team’s first pre-season game on Saturday.
The 24th pick in the NFL Draft, he didn’t even dress for the game as he was being officially “rested”.
This may have something to do with the Antonio Brown controversy currently in play at Oakland. Brown missed Raiders’ training camp practices last week due to foot burns sustained in a cryotherupy chamber. Should he need more time to heal; Jacobs will have to shoulder a bigger workload than is normally expected of a rookie.
If he is able to use this opportunity to make good quickly, it will probably strengthen his odds on winning the Offensive Rookie Award.
If, however, it makes the 21-year-old first draft pick the centre of too much attention too soon this may not be so.
