2026-27 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds Tracker
By Matt McEwan
Updated:
- Who are the top contenders for the 2026-27 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award?
- David Bailey is the early favorite to win NFL DROY in the 2026-27 NFL season
- See the NFL DROY odds for all contenders below
Follow along as I track the odds to win the 2026-27 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award throughout the 2026-27 NFL season. I will be providing updates to the DROY odds after each major event of the NFL offseason as well as each week of the regular season.
The NFL DROY odds table below presents you with the best odds available for each player in your region, and gives you the option to compare across all sportsbooks in your region; while the graphs below were created by taking the average from our most trusted sportsbooks.
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds & Top Contenders
David Bailey is the early favorite to win the NFL DROY award with consensus odds of +440. Based on those odds, Bailey has an 18.5% chance to win the award. If you placed a $20 bet on Bailey at +440 odds, you would stand to win $88 and return $108.
If you have followed the NFL Draft odds, or even checked in with an NFL mock draft, you are well aware that there is no single defensive player who stands well above the rest. David Bailey, Arvell Reese, and Rueben Bain Jr are perceived as the top pass-rushers available. But Caleb Downs is being called one of the greatest safety prospects the league has seen, and Sonny Styles’ athleticism is off the charts. All of these players make up the top tier of contenders, but there are plenty of notable names behind them as well.
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The top NFL DROY contenders are as follows:
- David Bailey (+440 consensus odds)
- Rueben Bain Jr (+550)
- Caleb Downs (+650)
- Sonny Styles (+650)
- Arvell Reese (+700)
Of course, we are likely to see some movement after the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night, but the shifts in the betting odds won’t be as dramatic as we see with the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds. Typically, defenders drafted in the first round find their way onto the field regardless of the team who drafts them, but that’s not the case on the other side of the ball.
The NFL DROY odds above are updated every 15 minutes from the top online sportsbooks in the US, including DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM. If you are not currently betting with DraftKings, be sure you claim the best DraftKings promo code upon signing up.
And some more notes on past DROY odds movement:
- [April 22] David Bailey, who was not expected to be the first defender selected in the 2026 NFL Draft at this time, opened as the favorite to win NFL DROY for the 2026-27 season. Arvell Reese, who was given the best odds to be the first defender taken, only had the fifth-best odds at opening, falling behind Bailey, Rueben Bain Jr, Caleb Downs, and Sonny Styles.
Looking for the latest NFL odds? – Get current spreads, totals, and moneyline odds for all upcoming games this week here.
Past NFL DROY Winners
| Year | DROY Winner |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Carson Schwesinger |
| 2024 | Jared Verse |
| 2023 | Will Anderson |
| 2022 | Sauce Gardner |
| 2021 | Micah Parsons |
| 2020 | Chase Young |
| 2019 | Nick Bosa |
| 2018 | Shaquille Leonard |
| 2017 | Marshon Lattimore |
| 2016 | Joey Bosa |
Defensive Rookie of the Year Winners by Position
| Position | DROY Awards in Last 15 Years |
|---|---|
| Edge Players | 7 |
| Inside Linebackers | 3 |
| Interior Defensive Linemen | 2 |
| Defensive Backs | 3 |
- Six of the last 10 DROY awards have gone to edge rushers
- Jared Verse (2024), Will Anderson (2023), Micah Parsons (2021), Chase Young (2020), Nick Bosa (2019), Joey Bosa (2016) and Von Miller (2011) are the only seven edge players to win the award in the last 18 seasons, though
- Carson Schwesinger (2025) and Darius Leonard (2018) are the only inside linebackers to win the award since 2013
- The award has only gone to a safety twice – the last was in 1990 (Mark Carrier)
DROY Winners by Draft Round
- 17 of the last 19 DROY awards went to first round picks (Carson Schwesinger won as the first pick of the 2nd round in 2025, and Darius Leonard won as a second round pick in 2018)
- 15 of the last 19 winners were selected in the top 15 of their draft – Marcus Peters went 18th overall, Leonard was 36th, Verse was 19th, and Schwesinger was 33rd
- Will Anderson (2023), Chase Young (2020), and the Bosa brothers (Nick in 2019 and Joey in 2016) are the only four players in the last 14 years to win DROY after being the first defensive player selected in the draft
Archived DROY Odds:
Editor-in-Chief; Sports Betting Expert
With nearly a decade working in the industry, Matt is a seasoned sports betting veteran. He got his start with SBD in 2016 and worked his way up the ladder to become the Editor-in-Chief. Along the way he has done everything from reviewing sportsbooks to creating proprietary sports betting tools.
