2023 NFL Draft odds: No. 1 overall pick appears to be 3-player race

September 02, 2022 at 11:15 am CDT

FILE - Alabama quarterback Bryce Young poses for a photograph after winning the Heisman Trophy, Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, in New York. Young is again a top contender for the 2022 Heisman Trophy. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) (John Minchillo/AP)

With college football set to take center stage over the next few days, Week 1 is a good opportunity for football fans to get familiar with the next crop of promising young players.

Yet only one standout will have the honor of being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, something you can actually bet on right now. Caesars Sportsbook, the official odds partner of Bet Chicago Sports, has a market for the top pick and it is shaping up to be a three-player race.

Quarterbacks C.J. Stroud (Ohio State) and Bryce Young (Alabama) are the preseason betting favorites to be the No. 1 overall pick, both with a price of +230 in this market. The two signal callers are entering their second season as starters for their respective program.

Young won the Heisman Trophy last year after throwing for 4,872 yards to go along with a 47:7 touchdown-interception ratio. Stroud finished with 4,435 passing yards and 44 touchdowns last season, but enters 2022 as the preseason favorite to win the Heisman award.

Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. is the only other contender to be the No. 1 overall pick. Anderson tallied 101 total tackles and 17.5 sacks in 2021, as he projects to be one of the next great edge defenders at the next level.

It will be fun to reflect on how these odds change by next spring. But a quarterback or defensive end will likely go No. 1 overall, because that has been the case for the last nine years. It is a streak that started the year after offensive tackle Eric Fisher was picked by the Kansas City Chiefs with the top pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.

Betting Odds for No. 1 Overall Pick

C.J. Stroud +230
Bryce Young +230
Will Anderson Jr. +375
Paris Johnson +1200
Jaxon Smith-Njigba +1600
Phil Jurkovec +1600
Will Levis +2000
Tyler Van Dyke +2000
Kedon Slovis +2500
Spencer Rattler +2500
Jalen Carter +2500
Bryan Bresee +3000
Eli Ricks +3000
Peter Skoronski +3000
Anthony Richardson +3500
All other selections have 40/1 or longer odds

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Shane Jackson

Shane Jackson is the Sports Betting Content Director for the Shaw Media Local News Network.