{"id":877084,"date":"2026-04-28T16:48:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T16:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/877084\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T16:48:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T16:48:18","slug":"nfl-defensive-rookie-of-the-year-odds-with-2-favorites-and-appealing-long-shot-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/877084\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year odds with 2 favorites and appealing long-shot options"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the NFL Draft in the rearview, fans can start speculating on how well players will fit into their new landing spots. The NFL Draft is an inexact alchemy, and every prospect\u2019s impact will be determined as much by their own skills and traits as their ability to adapt and gel with their new organization\u2019s structures and schemes. Taking a look at the odds on NFL Defensive Player of the Year award<\/a>, via FanDuel, is a chance to project which players found the perfect landing spot to make an immediate impact in the league.<\/p>\n

David Bailey (+500), EDGE \u2013 New York Jets<\/a><\/p>\n

Many expect David Bailey to contribute right away after the Jets invested their No. 2 overall pick in the EDGE prospect\u2019s steady production and projectable traits instead of searching for more upside with less polished prospects. Bailey posted 14.5 sacks last season with Texas Tech. If Aaron Glenn\u2019s defense starts playing at an above-average level, Bailey could earn a lot of attention for helping turn things around.<\/p>\n

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Rueben Bain Jr. (+500), EDGE \u2013 Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/p>\n

Rueben Bain Jr. showed off his ability to move the line of scrimmage and take over football games during Miami<\/a>\u2019s run to the CFB Championship. The defensive lineman is joining a Buccaneers team that\u2019s struggled to find consistency in closing out games, and they\u2019re watching their NFC South conference rivals stock up on offensive firepower. Bain will start right away for a Todd Bowles defense that can create unique passrushing looks around DT Vita Vea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Arvell Reese (+750) will start immediately alongside friendly company in New York Giants<\/a> linebackers Brian Burns<\/a>, Tremaine Edmunds<\/a>, and Kayvon Thibodeaux<\/a>. If offenses key on all of these other stars, Reese could produce eye-popping stats.<\/p>\n

Mansoor Delane (+850) will be tested early and often as the primary CB after the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> traded away both of last year\u2019s starters. The Chiefs traded up to secure the draft\u2019s top CB, and the former Virginia Tech and LSU standout will be playing in a big TV market that will create buzz if he starts making plays.<\/p>\n

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Sonny Styles<\/a> (+900) will get the chance to play the Bobby Wagner<\/a> role in the middle of Dan Quinn\u2019s Washington Commanders<\/a> defense. The converted safety led the Buckeyes in tackles last season, and he\u2019ll benefit from playing alongside disruptive linebacker Frankie Luvu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Caleb Downs<\/a> (+900) will be a focal point of Dallas Cowboys<\/a>\u2019 new Defensive Coordinator Christian Parker\u2019s 3-4 scheme. Parker brings familiarity with the division as former passing game coordinator and DBs coach for the Eagles, and he could put Downs in position to clean up a lot of broken plays behind a revamped defensive front<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the NFL Draft in the rearview, fans can start speculating on how well players will fit into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":877085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[1740,1483,211,613,257,4155,7699,7,3645,5629,8578,7778,110,755,216,56,255,6,15,32194,2239,209,704,250,2597,2596,8238,7763,7401,9752,111],"class_list":["post-877084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-bobby-wagner","tag-brian-burns","tag-buccaneers","tag-caleb-downs","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-david-bailey","tag-fl","tag-football","tag-frankie-luvu","tag-getty-images","tag-icon-sportswire","tag-jason-licht","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-kayvon-thibodeaux","tag-miami","tag-new-york-giants","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-rueben-bain-jr","tag-sonny-styles","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tampabay","tag-tampabaybuccaneers","tag-the-nfl-draft","tag-todd-bowles","tag-tremaine-edmunds","tag-vita-vea","tag-washington-commanders"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/877085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}