2022-23 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds Tracker

• Who are the top contenders for the 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award?
• Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, the 4th-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, is the favorite to win NFL DROY
• See the NFL DROY odds for all contenders below

Follow along as we track the odds to win the 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award throughout the 2022-23 NFL season. 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 are the players we see dominating the top of the odds to win NFL DROY.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the NFL Draft didn’t result in a ton of significant movement to the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year odds. The fit is not as important for defensive players as it is offensive—or at least the sportsbooks can’t read the fit as easily with defensive players.

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 has now been 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 feel Sauce is too heavy of a favorite.

2022 NFL DROY Odds

*Odds as of December 27 at DraftKings Sportsbook. If you are not currently betting with them, be sure you claim the best DraftKings Sportsbook bonus upon signing up.

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Ahmad Gardner is currently the favorite to win NFL DROY. He is given -1200 odds to win. If you placed a $20 wager on the Jets new corner, your potential profit would be $1.60 with you returning $21.60.

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.

Past NFL DROY Winners

Top DROY Contenders at Each Position

• Edge
• ILB
• Interior DL
• DB

• Four of the last six DROY awards have gone to edge rushers
• Micah Parsons (2021), Chase Young (2020), Nick Bosa (2019), Joey Bosa (2016) and Von Miller (2011) are the only five edge players to win the award in the last 15 seasons, though
• Darius Leonard (2018) is the only inside linebacker to win the award since 2013
• The award has only gone to a safety twice – the last was in 1990 (Mark Carrier)

Past NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Winners by Position

Top DROY Contenders by Draft Round

• Round 1
• Round 2

• 14 of the last 15 DROY awards went to first round picks (Darius Leonard won as a second round pick in 2018)
• 13 of the last 15 winners were selected in the top 15 of their draft – Marcus Peters went 18th overall, Leonard was 36th
• Chase Young (2020) and the Bosa brothers (Nick in 2019 and Joey in 2016) are the only three players in the last ten years to win DROY after being the first defensive player selected in the draft

Archived DROY Odds: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018