Here’s The Game Day’s 2021 Offensive ROY Prediction and Bet Picks for 2021 NFL Rookie Of The Year. See what our pick is for wagering on this 2021 NFL futures bet.
The 2021 NFL Draft saw five quarterbacks get taken in the top 15 picks, the most selected in this span since 2018.
Several teams including the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears and New England Patriots all will have young promising rookies lining up under center for them next year as a result.
While this new wave of rookie quarterbacks will bring excitement to their respective offenses, The Game Day is here to offer our insight as to why some of these choices could turn out as Offensive Rookie of the Year candidates next season.
2021 Offensive ROY Prediction: Bet Picks For 2021 NFL Rookie Of The Year
2021 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds
- Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars (+275)
- Justin Fields, QB, Chicago Bears (+500)
- Trey Lance, QB, San Francisco 49ers (+700)
- Zach Wilson, QB, New York Jets (+700)
- Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons (+1000)
- Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals (+1100)
- Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers (+1100)
- Mac Jones, QB, New England Patriots (+1200)
- DeVonta Smith, WR, Philadelphia Eagles (+1600)
- Jaylen Waddle, WR, Miami Dolphins (+1800)
- Travis Etienne, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars (+2500)
- Javonte Williams, RB, Denver Broncos (+2500)
- Trey Sermon, RB, San Francisco 49ers (+3000)
- Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens (+5000)
- Terrace Marshall, WR, Carolina Panthers (+5000)
- Rondale Moore, WR, Arizona Cardinals (+5000)
- Amari Rodgers, WR, Green Bay Packers (+5000)
- Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions (+5000)
- Kadarius Toney, WR, New York Giants (+5000)
Odds and lines for 2021 Offensive ROY Prediction: Bet Picks for 2021 NFL Rookie of the Year provided by BetMGM. BetMGM has a welcome offer for a Second-Chance Bet of up to $600. Use promo code THEGAMEDAY or click here to sign up for a new account.
2021 Offensive ROY Sleeper Bet: Mac Jones (+1200)
Don’t sleep on the New England Patriots’ franchise quarterback of the future. Alabama’s Mac Jones may have fallen to No. 15 in the draft, but he should not be taken lightly.
And here’s why. Jones had a monstrous season for the Crimson Tide in 2020, where he led them to a National Championship title over the Ohio State Buckeyes. Along the way, Jones hurled 41 touchdown passes to just four interceptions, while throwing for 4,500 yards and an NCAA single-season record 77.4% completion rate.
These nifty statistics earned him the Davey O’Brien Award for the best quarterback in all of college football, The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award for best upperclassmen quarterback in the NCAA, and The Manning Award, which is judged by the Sugar Bowl committee and given to the best collegiate quarterback in American football. Jones also collected the Consensus All-American Award, First-Team All-SEC and SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while being named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy Award.
Now, Jones will have to compete with veteran Cam Newton for the starting quarterback job, but the writing is on the wall for Newton, who underperformed in his first season in Foxborough and is playing on a one-year deal. If all goes according to plan, Jones will be the starter early on in the season, if not by Week 1.
Jones will join a Patriots offense that loaded up in free agency by signing tight ends Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, along with wide receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne. They also brought back running back James White and signed their starting center David Andrews to a long-term deal.
In addition to their free-agent class, the Patriots have a young promising duo of running backs in Damien Harris and Sony Michel, while their receiving corps features Jakobi Meyers and N’Keal Harry.
Jones is being compared to New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones given his accuracy and ball placement skills. Unlike Daniel Jones, Mac Jones is not considered to be a threat with his feet once he leaves the pocket, but he is a prototypical pocket passer, similar to what Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had in Tom Brady for 19 seasons.
If Jones comes in and can flourish in Belichick’s system in an offense with improved personnel, he should not be slept on as a 2021 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate.
Mac Jones’ landing spot with the New England Patriots is underrated, making him a sleeper 2021 Offensive ROY prediction. (Image: USA TODAY Sports)
2021 Offensive ROY Strong Bet: Trey Lance (+600)
Next up is the player that is tied at +600 odds to win OROY with Fields, and that is No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance. The San Francisco 49ers traded up with the Miami Dolphins to move up and get their man in the quarterback out of North Dakota State. Lance became the second quarterback from NDSU to be drafted in the top three in the past six seasons and first since Carson Wentz was taken by the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 2 overall in 2016.
After a lot of speculation surrounding, which quarterback the 49ers were going to draft, the organization ultimately chose Lance over Alabama’s Mac Jones as their signal-caller of the future. If the Niners are unable to find a trade partner for veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, Lance will be competing with him for the starting job.
While Lance’s upside is more than promising, the only concern is his lack of experience. Due to the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s postponement of their season after just one game last year, Lance only played one full season in college, starting 17 career games. However, that full season came back in 2019 and it was quite impressive. In 16 games, Lance had a 66.9% completion rate with 2,786 yards passing, 28 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also rushed for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.
This campaign is what put him on the radar of NFL scouts. The potential is there, and he could not be entering a better situation given the talent on the 49ers’ roster. If and when he does replace Garoppolo, Lance will be inserted into an offense with four good running backs in Raheem Mostert, fellow rookie Trey Sermon and Wayne Gallman (Jeff Wilson Jr. is going to miss most if not all of the upcoming season). He will have an All-Pro tight end in George Kittle to throw to, along with Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Richie James as his top three receivers.
Lance also gets to play under head coach Kyle Shanahan, who led San Francisco to the Super Bowl back in the 2019-20 season. Despite losing Garappolo multiple times last year due to lingering ankle issues, the 49ers’ still ranked 15th in the NFL in total offense. With a healthy group the season before, Shanahan’s unit was fourth in the league with almost 400 yards of offense and 29.9 points per game.
It will be very intriguing to see what Lance can do in Shanahan’s system with a healthy supporting cast around him. The established coaching staff and personnel on the 49ers’ offense is a big reason that Lance is one of the favorites to win OROY.
NFL 2021 Offensive ROY Best Bet: Trevor Lawrence (+275)
And last, but certainly not least, we have our unanimous favorite. None other than Clemson’s National Championship winning quarterback and the No. 1 overall pick of the draft: Trevor Lawrence. Ever since he burst onto the scene in 2018 as a true freshman, Lawrence has been pegged as a future first overall pick of the 2021 draft once he became eligible to declare.
And that’s exactly how it played out this year when the Jacksonville Jaguars took him with their first pick this year. The hype was substantial around Lawrence over the past few years, so much so that the NFL’s worst teams were being referred to as candidates in the “Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes.” Whoever had the worst record in the league would win the competition and be able to draft the Clemson product.
But the hype was real. Lawrence was so good in college that he went 34-2 as a starter while throwing for 10,098 yards, 90 touchdowns and a 66.6% completion rate. Now, he will get to lead a Jaguars’ offense, who also just drafted Lawrence’s running back at Clemson in Travis Etienne. In addition to Etienne, James Robinson and Carlos Hyde are two very formidable complements in the backfield, as well.
As for his receivers, Lawrence has a tantalizing WR trio in D.J. Chark, Marvin Jones, and Laviska Shenault. This group combined for 187 receptions, 2,258 yards and 19 touchdowns last season. Legendary college head coach Urban Meyer even came out of retirement to go to the NFL in order to be able to coach Lawrence at the next level. This tells you how special this quarterback can be.
Behind Meyer and a solid group of skill players, Lawrence could wind up taking the Jags’ from worst-to-first in his rookie season. And a big part of this is due to Lawrence being the heavy favorite to capture the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, at +300.
