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Most years, the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award is one of the most fascinating races to watch. While the players selected early in the draft are usually the preseason favorites, once the season kicks off, everyone is on level ground. In the NFL, anything can happen, especially with previously unproven rookies. Plus, this is not necessarily a quarterback-dominated award like MVP. Plenty of wide receivers and running backs have also taken home Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in past years.
Throughout the 2023 season, we’re going to keep a running tab of what rookies have the best odds of winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and the best betting option. We expect this to change frequently, so keep checking back! Here is where things currently stand in the Offensive Rookie of the Year race.
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Returning from his concussion and leading the Texans to the AFC South title figures to be enough to get Stroud Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. Things were somewhat tenuous after Week 16 when his odds had dropped to -750 with Stroud missing two games. However, Stroud returned to the field in Week 17 and put forth a strong effort over the final two weeks of the season. In those two games, he completed more than 75% of his passes with three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
More importantly, he helped Houston to wins in those games, including the Week 18 win over the Colts that ultimately gave the Texans the division title and a home playoff game. It also helps that Stroud finished the season with over 4,000 passing yards despite missing a couple of games while also throwing 23 touchdown passes and just five interceptions. Based on everything he did this season and how much he lifted up a rebuilding franchise, it’s hard not to label Stroud as the NFL’s best rookie in 2023.
While he figures to finish second and get a healthy collection of first-place votes, it’s a shame that Nacua isn’t going to be Offensive Rookie of the Year. That being said, he still has a shot to spring the upset. He’s been equally as impressive as Stroud, although he didn’t quite leave a strong lasting impression in the minds of voters with just 41 receiving yards in Week 18.
That being said, Nacua finished ninth in the NFL in receptions with 105 and fourth in receiving yards with 1,486. In almost any other year, he would have been the runaway favorite for OROTY. Nacua went from being a fifth-round pick who virtually nobody had heard of before to being one of the 10 best wide receivers in the NFL. In a way, Nacua has a Cinderella story that should end with some kind of hardware. However, Stroud may have been too good to overcome.
While it looks likely that Stroud will win Rookie of the Year, there isn’t much value in betting on him with -4000 odds. On the other hand, Nacua still has some value at +900. The two players surely aren’t as far apart as the betting odds might indicate. Nacua is almost equally deserving of the award as Stroud.
The problem is that Stroud plays the most important position in the game and led one of the worst teams in football over the last several years to the playoffs. That’s ultimately the difference between the two. Of course, on the off-chance that voters recognize the magnitude of what Nacua accomplished, he’s worth taking a flier at +900.
AUTHOR
Bryan Zarpentine
150 Articles
Bryan Zarpentine is a 2008 graduate of Syracuse University and has been working as a freelance writer and editor since 2010. During that time, he has contributed to countless sites while covering baseball, soccer, the NFL, college football, and college basketball.
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