The New York Giants finished 4-13 last season, giving them the fifth pick in the draft in April. The team decided to take the star defensive end out of Oregon, Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Kayvon Thibodeaux will be of significant help as a pass rusher for the Giants defense: The only problem. He’s now hurt after he was taken out by Thaddeus Moss in the team’s second preseason game on a questionable cut block.
Based on his original timeline, Thibodeaux is expected to still miss one more week. Thibodeaux did return to practice on Tuesday, where he was able to participate in individual drills. His status remains up in the air for Sunday’s opener against the Titans.
Despite the uncertainty, we’re going to take a look at Thibodeaux’s betting odds to determine whether or not it’s worth placing a bet on the rookie.
Thibodeaux’s Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds
Prior to his injury, FanDuel had Kayvon Thibodeaux as the favorite to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award.
Thibodeaux still has the second-best odds to win the defensive rookie of the year award at +800: The only guy he trails is Aidan Hutchinson, who has +450 odds.
The fact that Thibodeaux has such good odds even with his return date being unknown, means that the Giants got themselves a true talent on the defensive line. Thibodeaux appeared in a total of thirty games at Oregon, and picked up nineteen sacks to go with 35.5 tackles for loss.
One of Thibodeaux’s biggest competitors for this award is Hutchinson: Hutchinson only picked up 3.5 sacks throughout his first three years at Michigan, before breaking out in his senior season. The second overall pick had fourteen sacks in fourteen games last year. Hutchinson will be healthy to begin the season, which matters in an award that could come down to season totals.
If you’re looking to make this bet on Thibodeaux: it’d be smart to check out BetRivers or Fanduel. These sportsbooks don’t seem to think quite as highly of the Giants top draft pick.
BetRivers is giving Travon Walker the second best odds to win the award at +800. They’ve got Thibodeaux in a four way tie for the third position with +900 odds. Fanduel has Thibodeaux with the second best odds, but at +800. Each of these sportsbooks still have Hutchinson occupying the top spot.
Thibodeaux is at a disadvantage in this award race after his injury, but he is still very much in play for it. If he outperforms the other rookies and stays healthy, the voters should forget about any games he missed at the beginning of the year. The Giants winning games will help his cause as well.
Other Thibodeaux Bets
A fun one for all the Giants fans out there would be Kayvon Thibodeaux to win Defensive Rookie of the Year and the Giants to have a winning record. This combo is listed at +2000 on BetRivers. The Giants aren’t expected to be a playoff team this year and are projected to win only seven games.
DraftKings has Thibodeaux at +8000 odds to have the most sacks in the league this year. These odds are the best among rookies. The sportsbooks vary in this player prop. Fanduel doesn’t even have Thibodeaux listed for the leader in season sacks.
Some NY Sportsbooks may be waiting to hear more about Thibodeaux’s injury and a potential return date before giving him odds for certain props. Keep checking over the few days if you’re looking to take Thibodeaux in a player prop bet that doesn’t currently have him listed. You should begin to see his name more often once his return date becomes more clear.
