Gardner Minshew’s OROY Odds Shorten to +450, Trails Only Jones & Murray

• Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew has five touchdowns and just one interception through three games
• Minshew also has an impressive 73.9 completion percentage
• If Minshew leads the Jags to the playoffs, he’s a legitimate threat for OROY

Gardner Minshew has had an impressive few weeks as the starting quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The rookie, along with his moustache, have quickly gained legendary status, bringing relevancy back to the franchise following the freak injury to Nick Foles.

Minshew is now only behind Daniel Jones and Kyler Murray for the NFL OROY odds, but is he worth a bet?

2019 Offensive Rookie of The Year Odds

Minshew Mania Has Taken Over

The Jaguars haven’t really had a good quarterback in a long time, so the fact that they’ve had three good weeks from a rookie sixth-round pick has been an unexpected development this year. Minshew has been impressive, as he’s completed 73.9% of his passes while throwing five touchdowns versus just one interception.

As you may recall, the Jaguars signed Nick Foles this offseason in hopes that he’d simply make the basic throws and avoid mistakes. That’s all they had wanted from previous starter Blake Bortles as well. Minshew is delivering on that and doing slightly more as evidenced by his 108.2 quarterback rating last Thursday.

We’ll see if Minshew is able to keep this up, but if the Jags become a playoff team or are even in the running, Minshew will have to be a big reason why.

There’s not a lot of help around him on this team and he’s elevated them over the two weeks that he’s been starting.

Minshew Has Easier Path Than Other Contenders

One of the key differences between Minshew and the other two top contenders for this award is that he appears to have the better team around him. Jones has a few decent targets in Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate and Evan Engram, but now Saquon Barkley is out long term and the defense isn’t very good.

As for Murray, he seems to be paired with a coaching staff that are in over their heads through three games. The offensive line is feeble, the running game has been so-so and the receiving corps is lacking talent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzqBV3vNups

The Jaguars also have the easiest division of the three teams. Jones has to deal with the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, while Murray has to face the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. If Minshew can lead his unit to the playoffs, that will give him a significant leg up.

What’s The Best Bet?

Minshew has played well and if he gets the Jags to the playoffs – a goal that seems more likely for them than the Giants or Cardinals making it – he’ll have a serious case for the award. At +450, though, I don’t see much value in the line. His passing yards have been low and I don’t trust his offensive cast enough.

Leonard Fournette doesn’t look like a running back who has much juice and the receiving corps is headlined by unproven players like D.J. Chark, Marqise Lee and Dede Westbrook. It’s possible they get better now that Minshew is under center but these are not exactly proven talents. They probably drag him down more than help him up.

If we’re looking at the favorites, at this point, I’d bet Daniel Jones as his numbers from one game have basically approached what Minshew has done in two-and-a-half.