Despite the NFL Draft being over months ago, it still hasn’t quite sunk in that Josh Allen fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars with the No. 7 overall pick. Though he probably would’ve liked to go higher, the rookie pass-rusher expressed that he was excited to come to Jacksonville and have an elite supporting cast that could almost certainly put him in position to flourish out of the gate.
With Allen going into a situation in which most rookie defensive lineman would salivate for with Pro Bowlers like Calais Campbell, Marcell Dareus and Yannick Ngakoue beside him, Vegas seemingly has taken note of his situation. As a result, BetOnline.AG has him down for the second-best odds (7/1) to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year. The only rookie with better odds is San Francisco 49ers pass-rusher Nick Bosa, who has 5/1 odds.
Jaguars defensive coordinator Todd Wash has already come out to say Allen will play defensive end exclusively. If Yannick Ngakoue doesn’t hold out for a new contract, that means Allen will be a rotational player who could also see a series or two a game.
Like Allen, Bosa missed much of organized team activities, so he’ll have ground to make up to become a starter over Arik Armstead. Ultimately, I believe he’ll do that in training camp being that he was the No. 2 overall pick, and if so, he deserves to have slightly better odds than Allen for 2019.
