2018 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds Tracker
- Darius Leonard won the 2018 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award
- Look back at how the 2018 DROY odds changed throughout the season
- Looking for current NFL DROY odds?
Have a look back at the odds to win the 2018 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. The graphs below were created by taking the average odds from several of our most trusted online sports betting sites.
Top NFL DROY Contenders
*During the NFL regular season, most online sports betting sites didn’t open their NFL DROY odds until Wednesday morning, and they close again when the Thursday night game kicks off. So your window to make wagers was rather tight.
The 2018 NFL Draft saw two defensive players selected in the top five: Denzel Ward (4th to the Browns) and Bradley Chubb (5th to the Broncos).
While both players made an impact with their respective teams, two other defenders taken later in the draft stood above the rest all season.
Darius Leonard was named the 2018 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year at the 2019 NFL Honors on February 2, edging out Derwin James.
2018 NFL DROY Odds
| Player | Team | Pos | Drafted | Closing Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darius Leonard | IND | ILB | 36th Overall | -155 |
| Derwin James | LAC | S | 17th Overall | +170 |
| Leighton Vander Esch | DAL | ILB | 19th Overall | +500 |
| Bradley Chubb | DEN | EDGE | 5th Overall | +1600 |
*Odds Taken December 26, 2018
Notable Movement in Odds
- [01/20/19] None of our top online sports betting sites have released new odds following Week 17
- [12/26/18] The favorite has flipped again, as Leonard enters Week 17 as the odds-on favorite for DROY
- [12/12/18] Derwin James is again separating from the pack as the favorite for DROY
- [11/07/18] It only took one week for Leonard’s stranglehold on the award to loosen. Derwin James has overtaken him as the favorite.
- [10/31/18] Darius Leonard has emerged as the clear favorite to win the 2018 NFL DROY award, now sporting -280 odds. Derwin James and Denzel Ward appear to be the only players capable of making a move on him.
- [05/23/18] Bradley Chubb opened as the clear favorite to win 2018 NFL DROY. With Von Miller attracting all the attention on the opposite edge, Chubb will have plenty of one-on-one opportunities when rushing the passer.
Top Contenders at Each Position
Leonard was the first ILB to win the award since Luke Kuechly in 2012. Had Derwin James claimed the honor, he would have been the first safety to do so since Mark Carrier in 1990.
Top Contenders by Draft Round
Darius Leonard became the first player since DeMeco Ryans in 2006 to win DROY without being selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
After working in TV, Matt turned his focus towards numbers, specifically odds. He has been with us since 2016 and serves as SBD's Editor-in-Chief, credited with creating our futures trackers, SBD's score predictor, SBD Sharp, and his own model for calculating NFL SOS, among other products.
