2022 NFL Draft odds: Travon Walker now betting favorite over Aidan Hutchinson as No. 1 overall pick by Jaguars
Caesars Sportsbook has a new betting favorite to be the top pick in this week's NFL Draft.
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The first round of the 2022 NFL Draft is Thursday night from Las Vegas, and for weeks the betting favorite to hear his name called first overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars had been University of Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. However, the stock of Georgia defensive lineman Travon Walker has been skyrocketing and now Caesars Sportsbook lists Walker as the -200 favorite to be the top pick with Hutchinson at +140. All the other books have similar numbers.
Over the weekend, Jaguars GM Trent Baalke said the team is still considering four players for the No. 1 overall pick and that they have several players graded similarly at the top of the class (doesn't seem likely the team will trade out of that spot). Baalke obviously isn't to say which four but most believe they are Walker, Hutchinson and offensive tackles Ikem Ekwonu (+1400 to go first) from North Carolina State and Evan Neal (+1500) from Alabama.
Dating to his days with the 49ers, Baalke has a history of taking the athletic playmaker and that would be Walker, who put on an impressive show at the NFL Combine and probably has a higher ceiling than Hutchinson but also a higher bust factor. Walker had just 9.5 sacks in his three college seasons. Hutchinson had a school-record 14 sacks last season and was the Heisman runner-up. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Walker is bigger than Hutchinson and his length and wingspan (35.5, 84.25 inches) far beat Hutchinson's (32⅛, 78⅛ inches). Before the Combine, Walker was priced +3000 to be the first pick. The Jaguars need another pass rusher opposite Josh Allen.
"I think when you look at both those players, they're both productive in their own way," Baalke said on Friday about Walker and Hutchinson. "[They're] used differently, totally different schemes, used differently within those schemes. Again, you're looking at them, you're looking at how they made their plays, how they were used, and then you have a vision for how you can use them. All of that plays a part, but traits are important, production is important. You weigh it all."
NFL.com gives Walker a grade of 6.48, which means "will become good starter within two years" and a comp of Ezekiel Ansah. Hutchinson has a grade of 6.80 (year 1 starter) and a comp of Kyle Vanden Bosch.
Since Walker was added to the first pick market on March 23, he ranks first in both total number of tickets (32 percent) and total dollars wagered (45 percent) to be the top selection.
"Hutchinson going from the prohibitive favorite for No. 1 pick to Walker, that causes a ripple effect of everything," said Adam Pullen, Assistant Director of Trading at Caesars Sportsbook. "Everything has to be adjusted. Not just the first pick odds, but the Over/Unders, the second, third and fourth picks. There's just so many different markets that you have to be concerned about. That's the importance of being on top of things and being quick to adjust when something comes out."
NBC Sports' Peter King in his Football Morning in America column today has Walker going first and Hutchinson second to the Lions. The CBS Sports consensus mock draft has Hutchinson going first and Walker second. A player from the University of Georgia has been picked first overall four times, last QB Matthew Stafford by Detroit in 2009.
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