2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds Tracker

• Look back to the top contenders to win the 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award
• Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner ran away with NFL DROY in the 2022-23 NFL season
• Looking for current NFL DROY odds?

Look back at the odds to win the 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award that we tracked throughout the 2022-23 NFL season. Sauce Gardner was a heavy favorite to win the award starting around midseason and the Jets corner never looked back. The graphs below were created by taking the average from several of our most trusted sportsbooks.

Top NFL DROY Contenders

• Top 5
• Top 10

The 2022 NFL Draft saw loads of edge rushers taken early, and they were the players we saw dominating the top of the odds to win NFL DROY following the draft.

Aidan Hutchinson had separated himself from the pack after the first couple weeks of the season. He was joined by Jaguars’ linebacker Devin Lloyd atop the board after Week 3. Lloyd took over as the favorite following Week 4. But he was displaced by Ahmad Gardner after Week 6. The fact that sportsbooks didn’t reopen NFL DROY odds after Week 17, when every other player award outside of NFL DPOY did, suggests they felt Sauce was too heavy of a favorite.

Closing 2022 NFL DROY Odds

*Odds as of December 27

Sauce Gardner had basically locked up the NFL DROY award by early December. The closing DROY odds had the Jets CB listed at -1200 with Aidan Hutchinson next at +800.

And some more notes on past odds movement:

• [November 8] After picking off Josh Allen and helping the Jets shutdown the Bills’ lethal passing attack in Week 9, Ahmad Gardner has now become an odds-on favorite to win NFL DROY. His odds improved from +300 to -110.
• [October 31] Jalen Pitre saw his odds improve from +1400 to +800 after a Week 8 performance where he logged two tackles for loss and six total tackles. The Texans’ safety now has the third-best odds to win the award.
• [October 24] Sauce Gardner remains the favorite to win NFL DROY after shutting down Courtland Sutton in Week 7, but fellow corner Tariq Woolen is nipping at his heels. Woolen’s odds improved from +800 to +350 following Seattle’s upset win over the Chargers in Week 7.
• [October 18] After Week 6, Sauce Gardner is the new favorite to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Gardner had two passes defensed in the Jets upset over the Packers. His odds improved from +600 to +300.
• [October 10] Ahmad Gardner has seen his NFL DROY odds improve from +2500 to +600 after pulling down his first career interception as his Jets upset the Dolphins in Week 5. Gardner now has the second-best odds on the board behind only Devin Lloyd.
• [October 3] Devin Lloyd continues to be all over the field for the Jaguars defense, racking up 14 total tackles in Week 4. The result is Lloyd taking over as the favorite to win NFL DROY. His odds improved from +400 to +200, while Aidan Hutchinson’s faded from +350 to +600 after a quiet game from the rookie edge-rusher where his Lions got roasted for 48 points by the Seahawks.
• [September 27] After recording an interception for the second straight week, Devin Lloyd has seen his NFL DROY odds improve from +2000 to +400. The Jaguars’ linebacker is just slightly behind the favorite Aidan Hutchinson, who is given +350 odds after Week 3.
• [September 19] After a three-sack day against the Commanders in Week 2, Aidan Hutchinson has become the heavy favorite to win NFL DROY. Hutchinson’s NFL DROY odds improved from +700 to +250, with the next player on the board given +1000 odds.
• [September 12] First-overall pick Travon Walker recorded a sack and four tackles in his NFL debut, while Aidan Hutchinson, who entered Week 1 as the favorite, was pretty quiet in his first game. The result is the two players now listed as co-favorites to win NFL DROY.
• [September 7] With Kayvon Thibodeaux, the defender with the second-best odds to win NFL DROY, expected to miss Week 1, and potentially another game or two, Aidan Hutchinson has really broken away from the field in the latest NFL DROY odds ahead of kickoff.
• [April 28] Although he was not the first-overall pick, Aidan Hutchinson is the favorite to win NFL DROY. His odds have improved from +600 to +400 after being drafted second-overall by the Lions. Kayvon Thibodeaux has seen his DROY odds move from +1000 to +450, the second-best on the board, after going fifth-overall to the Giants. The first-overall pick, Travon Walker, moved from +1000 to +550.
• [April 12] Even though we are still a couple weeks from the 2022 NFL Draft, some sportsbooks have already opened their NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year odds. Aidan Hutchinson, who is projected to be the first-overall pick in the NFL Draft odds, and Kyle Hamilton have opened as the co-favorites to win DROY.

Top DROY Contenders at Each Position

• Edge
• ILB
• Interior DL
• DB