The 2025 NFL Draft is now in the books, making it time to take an extensive look at the Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year races. Below, you’ll find in-depth previews for both races, while using today’s odds as a baseline between now and Opening Day.
Value options will be mentioned in the betting channel in our Discord this season. Odds postings in this article are subject to change in various markets.
Offensive Rookie of the Year Race
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (+380, FanDuel) and Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty (+300, various) represent the two traditional favorites in the 2025 OROY race.
Ward is the only first-round quarterback in this draft class that’s positioned to start on Opening Day, making him the rookie to beat. The AFC South is one of the league’s two most winnable divisions, meaning a solid year from Ward could push the Titans into contention for a division crown. If that happens, Ward will have an OROY case no one else can parallel in 2025.
Teams don’t spend the No. 6 overall pick on a running back to ease them in, so Jeanty likely approaches bellcow usage for an improving Raiders offense. Ultimately, top-of-the-draft quarterbacks and the first running back selected tend to be standard OROY favorites heading towards Opening Day.
Travis Hunter (+750 DraftKings) is technically the first wide receiver taken this year, but he’s the first of his kind as he’s set to see time on both sides of the ball from the jump. New Jaguars head coach Liam Coen has already said the plan is for Hunter to primarily play on offense. That tidbit, along with Hunter playing with veteran quarterback Trevor Lawrence, gives the No. 2 overall pick a better OROY path than he had before the draft. However, what the word “primarily” exactly means in this specific case is still an unknown, as Hunter’s role and snap management are uncharted waters for NFL rookies.
Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (+650 to +1400 DraftKings) was selected No. 8 overall by the Carolina Panthers. McMillan is a top-10 pick on a Panthers offense that showed significant improvement in the second half of last season. Carolina also happens to lack a headlining pass catcher in their prime. McMillan has the clearest path among rookies to open the season as their team’s top pass catcher.
Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (+2000 to +4000 BetMGM) is currently a strong value option with first-round draft capital. If Mike Evans continues to defy Father Time and Chris Godwin is ready for Opening Day, Egbuka will have a ton of target competition in his first year. However, if Evans begins to truly decline in his age-32 season and Godwin has any kind of setback in his recovery from a dislocated ankle, Egbuka suddenly has a tremendous opportunity with Baker Mayfield playing at a fringe-MVP level the past two seasons.
Matthew Golden (+2500 DraftKings) has a ton of target competition in a talent-rich Green Bay Packers wide receiver room. Furthermore, the Packers take a spread-the-ball-around approach on offense and Golden is more of a lid lifter than a volume monster.
A tight end has never won the OROY and if Brock Bowers didn’t take it down last year, it’s hard to see that trend changing any time soon. That said, the Chicago Bears selected Colston Loveland (+2500 Bet365) No. 10 overall and the Indianapolis Colts took Tyler Warren (+3500 BetMGM) with the No. 14 overall pick. Loveland, along with No. 39 overall pick WR Luther Burden III (+3500 to +5000 FanDuel), are two new pieces added to an already-loaded group of Bears pass catchers. Warren doesn’t have an NFL-caliber passer on the Colts’ roster, giving both first-round tight ends unlikely paths to OROY contention.
Running back Omarion Hampton (+1600 DraftKings) has first-round draft capital and a tremendous long-term landing spot with the Los Angeles Chargers. In 2025, former Pittsburgh Steeler Najee Harris could prevent Hampton from receiving an OROY-type workload. There’s a good chance Rhamondre Stevenson has a similar effect on TreVeyon Henderson (+2000, various) in New England’s suddenly-crowded backfield.
Two second-round running backs in Quinshon Judkins (+1800 to +2500 ESPNBET, +3000 Bet365) and RJ Harvey (+2200 to +4000 ESPNBET) have realistic paths to the top spot on their depth charts. The Cleveland Browns selected Judkins with the fourth pick in the second round, and to this point, Jerome Ford is Judkins’ biggest competition.
Harvey was a super deep longshot before the draft that has been getting gradually steamed since landing with Denver towards the end of the second round. The Broncos’ high-performing offensive line and their overall ascending offense led by Sean Payton and Bo Nix make Denver an appealing landing spot for any running back. What makes things even better for Harvey is the Broncos’ wide-open backfield, with 5-foot-7 Jaleel McLaughlin serving as the man on top of the depth chart as of this writing.
Players in Harvey’s draft range rarely win the OROY, but Eddie Lacy and Alvin Kamara are two recent OROY winners selected beyond the No. 60 overall pick. In most NFL cities, Harvey would have been a non-factor in the OROY race, but he has a shot as a Bronco.
Defensive Rookie of the Year Race
We’ll get into this more this summer, but top-of-the-draft pass rushers usually win the DROY. New York Giants EDGE Abdul Carter (+250, various) is the prototype player that usually wins this award, and he plays in the biggest market in the country on arguably the most talented pass rush in the league.
Travis Hunter (+750 to +1200 ESPNBET) is technically a noteworthy value, but his role on defense is a complete unknown, to the point he could realistically be off the board after Opening Day if he just plays offense early in the season. Once again, uncharted waters for the first player taken that will play defense.
No. 5 overall pick Mason Graham (+750 to +1600 BetMGM) will never see a double team playing next to Myles Garrett in Cleveland, but he’ll have to leapfrog five first-round EDGE rushers to be DROY, among others.
The Atlanta Falcons have two of those edge rushers in Jalon Walker (+900, various) and James Pearce Jr. (+2000 ESPNBET). The Cincinnati Bengals selected Shemar Stewart (+1600 DraftKings) with the No. 17 overall pick.
San Francisco 49ers EDGE Mykel Williams (+800 to +1100 FanDuel) was taken ahead of Walker, Pearce Jr., and Stewart with the No. 11 overall pick. Like Graham, Williams will also never see a double team playing on the same line as Nick Bosa. If a pass rusher jumps Carter, there’s a good chance it’s Williams.
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jihaad Campbell (+1200 to +2000 ESPNBET) is an appealing mid-range longshot that could hit if the pass rushers fail and Hunter primarily plays on offense. The Eagles often draft players to take over in future years by design, but Campbell could conceivably jump Nakobe Dean at linebacker. If Campbell does, in Vic Fangio’s defense (Fangio historically gets a ton out of the linebacker position), Campbell is my favorite non-pass rusher in this class.
