NFL Defensive Rookie Of The Year Odds: Can Will Anderson Steal It From Jalen Carter?

NFL Rookie of the Year odds for defensive players showcase Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter as the favorite, but Texans defensive end Will Anderson gained ground over the weekend. Can the star edge rusher for the Texans beat out Carter for DROY, with Houston playing a “win and you’re in” game against Indianapolis on Saturday night? Let’s dive into Defensive Rookie of the Year odds at the best betting sites and see if we should bet on Anderson before Week 18.

2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the YEAR odds

Click any Defensive Rookie of the Year odds below to place bets and claim the sportsbook promo codes in your state. The odds listed are the best available, saving you time from flipping between apps and price shopping.

Eagles DT Jalen Carter

Carter remains the likely player to win this award, given that more eyes have been on the stud defensive tackle from Georgia. Outside of his fumble return for a touchdown in Week 14 against the Cowboys, Carter hasn’t been up to snuff in the second half of the season.

Since Week 9, the rookie lineman has tallied just two sacks and 16 pressures.

Not only has Carter been subpar in the second half, but the Eagles’ defense has been reeling. Since Week 13 against San Francisco, the Eagles are allowing an eye-popping 30.2 points per game, the second-most in the league behind the woeful Commanders. To put that into perspective, that’s eight points more per contest than the Chargers, who gave up 63 to the Raiders in Week 15. Will voters give this award to Carter when he’s been unimpressive down the stretch, and the defense overall has been putrid?

Texans DE Will Anderson

Anderson has notched seven sacks on the season, tying him for second amongst rookies. It’s also one more than Carter.

Anderson was sidelined a few weeks in December with a high ankle sprain. He returned to the lineup in Week 17 to tally two sacks against a horrible Titans offensive line, resulting in his number plummeting from +4000 to where you see it today.

What’s noteworthy about the Titans game was that Anderson accumulated those sacks in just 12 snaps. Demeco Ryans seems to be trying to preserve the star edge rusher for obvious passing situations, as the ankle is probably still an issue.

So, what does Anderson need to do to win this award? He likely needs to tally a sack or two against the Colts, whose offensive line ranks 24th in pass block win rate. For reference, the pass block win rate is the offensive line’s ability to sustain its blocks for at least 2.5 seconds. Even playing on a bum ankle, this is a favorable matchup against a foul Colts offensive line. If he’s on a snap count, he’ll be in on passing plays, which should allow him to go full throttle.

Anderson, of course, has the added benefit of playing in primetime on Saturday, whereas Carter does not. If the Texans win and Anderson impresses, these odds likely shift drastically.

Rams DT Kobie Turner

While Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams garner all the attention for Rams rookies, Turner is a player no one is talking about, evidenced by his absence on odds boards. The third-round pick has nine sacks on the season, leading all rookies. His ten pressures against the Giants this past weekend were the most of any rookie this season in a single game.

His issue is that hardly anyone, including voters for this award, knows he exists. A stacked offense with Stafford, Puka, Williams, and Kupp overshadows him. On the defensive end, Aaron Donald gets all the attention and perhaps some credit for his performance, as he’s swallowing up the double teams.

At the end of the day, Turner deserves more credit in this market. Perhaps he has another massive game against a Niners squad that will be playing backups? It would take an incredible performance for him to get the votes, but the Rams social media team is already making the PR rounds and trying to generate the buzz.

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💪 Tied with Aaron Donald (9.0) for most sacks by a rookie in franchise history
💪 Leads all rookies in sacks, sack yards
💪 @TurnerKobie is BALLIN’ pic.twitter.com/oqYA5IxZB5

— x – Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 1, 2024

stat leaders

	Sacks	Pressures	Forced Fumbles	Passes Deflected	Defensive Touchdowns
Jalen Carter	6	44	2	0	1
Kobie Turner	9	45	0	2	0
Will Anderson	7	57	0	1	0

prior winners

Below is a table showing prior winners of the award and the statistical categories that helped them win the award. It’s worth noting that in 2019, Nick Bosa finished third in sacks behind Maxx Crosby and Josh Allen (Jaguars). The issue for Crosby was that their defense wasn’t particularly good, and he was drafted in the fourth round. The Raiders as a team gave up 26.2 points per contest, 9th most in the league, while the Niners gave up a mere 19.3 points, the eighth fewest.

Crosby finished with four votes for DROY, while Bosa finished with 43. Given this history, I doubt Turner will get any votes for this. You need to be on a good defense and have been drafted relatively high to win, and Turner was neither.

He’s still a fascinating candidate, though, because he’s the sack leader, and he’s not even listed on most odds boards as of January 2.

Year	Team	Team PPG allowed	Player	Round Selected	Sacks	Interceptions	Tackles
2022	Jets	18.6 (4)	Sauce Gardner	1st	–	2 (4)	–
2021	Cowboys	21.1 (7)	Micah Parsons	1st	13 (1)	–	–
2020	Commanders	20.6 (4)	Chase Young	1st	7.5 (1)	–	–
2019	Niners	19.4 (8)	Nick Bosa	1st	9 (3)	–	–
2018	Colts	21.6 (10)	Shaquille Leonard	2nd	7 (2)		163 (1)
2017	Saints	20.4 (10)	Marshon Lattimore	1st		5 (1)
2016	Chargers	26.4 (29)	Joey Bosa	1st	10.5 (1)	–
2015	Chiefs	17.9 (3)	Marcus Peters	1st	–	8 (1)
2014	Rams	22.1 (17)	Aaron Donald	1st	9 (1)
2013	Jets	24.2 (19)	Sheldon Richardson	1st	3.5 (1)

FINAL THOUGHTS

Carter’s defensive touchdown against the Cowboys is the only thing keeping him ahead on the odds board. It happened in primetime, and as we noted in other articles, primetime matters.

Should Anderson make a splash play on Saturday evening, I think the odds flip to where he’s the favorite, and Carter will need to do something relevant on Sunday.

Best of luck betting Defensive Rookie of the Year odds!

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