Odds Favor Bucs To Draft Offensively First, Pats Draft Defense

• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are favored to take an offensive player with their first-round pick.
• The NFL Draft’s first round will be April 23 and will start at 8:00 p.m. ET
• The Baltimore Ravens have +120 odds to select an offensive player with their first pick.

LAS VEGAS — The 2020 NFL Draft will go on as planned with some changes to the structure of the event as the league will have a virtual draft for the first time ever. The first round of this year’s NFL Draft has the potential to be the most-watched event in the sports world because of the coronavirus pandemic suspending all other major sports.

With the draft just a week away, sportsbooks have already begun to see a spike in NFL Draft bets being placed. The sportsbooks BetOnline and Bovada among many others have both posted draft odds on what teams will spend their first-round picks on.

Two team’s drawing attention from all NFL fans includes the likes of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and The New England Patriots since Tom Brady signed with the Bucs in the offseason. However, other teams that dominated the league last year like the Baltimore Ravens cannot be overlooked.

The odds below all come from the sportsbook BetOnline and a winning bet is also picked for each betting prop.

Winner: Defensive Player (+200). After signing six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady in free agency, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have their quarterback of the moment and already have the weapons (outside of the running game) for Brady to be successful under center. The +200 odds on the Buccaneers taking a defensive player in the first round should be taken confidently as the team still needs help in their secondary, especially at the safety position. With more pressing needs on the defensive end expect the Buccaneers to consider trading up for a top prospect to add to their young secondary in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft.

Winner: Offensive Player (+130). The New England Patriots may already have found their replacement for Tom Brady in Jarrett Stidham but that remains to be seen. Either way, the team will need to address their lack of talent at the wide receiver and tight end position. The Patriots used a first-round pick on a wide receiver last year and expect them to keep that trend going by drafting an offensive player in the first round. The Patriots taking a defensive player does have the shortest odds at -170 as their head coach Bill Belichick remains one of the best defensive minds in all of football. But take the +130 odds on the Patriots not being able to pass up on an offensive prospect that slips down the draft boards.

Winner: Offensive Player (+120). The Baltimore Ravens should be one of the main teams looking to improve their wide receiver corps in this year’s draft. The wide receiver position is the biggest need for the Ravens coming out of a 2019 season where Lamar Jackson won the NFL’s MVP award with subpar pass catchers. With such a deep and talented crop of receivers, there’s no reason for the Ravens not to select a wide receiver in the first round of the draft especially with the talent that will be available towards the end of the opening round. Roll the dice on the Ravens addressing their issues at wide receiver or on an offensive player with +120 since that is where the profit lies for this prop.