Allen, Jackson, Burrow lead MVP faves; non-QBs lead OROY odds

Josh Allen will head into the 2026 NFL season as the favorite to win his second Most Valuable Player award in three seasons with a bevy of quarterbacks chasing him. Contrarily, the Offensive Rookie of the Year award will favor non-quarterbacks to start the new campaign.

Allen is the +600 favorite to win MVP, followed by Lamar Jackson at +800 and Joe Burrow at +850. Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes and Drake Maye make up the next tier at 10-1, Dak Prescott and Caleb Williams are 12-1, and reigning league MVP Matthew Stafford comes in at a ninth-best 14-1, according to DraftKings Sportsbook odds.

Clearly, the lines reflect an award that has been given to a quarterback in 18 of the last 19 seasons, including the last 13 in a row: The first non-QB on the board, Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, checks in at a 25th-best 100-1... longer than Daniel Jones and Tyler Shough at 90-1.

As has been the case the last several seasons, the betting public is thoroughly backing Burrow, once again banking on this being the season that the 2020 No. 1 overall pick finally breaks through for his first MVP honor. At DraftKings, Burrow has a leading 16.3% of the money, and at BetMGM, he leads ticket count at 12.9%, just barely trailing Herbert by handle (14.1% to 14.0%).

"Joe Burrow has been driving a lot of action in the offseason," Caesars Sportsbook football lead Joey Feazel told ESPN. "If we look at Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, our top three, he is the only liability up there."

Amid hype surrounding the Chicago Bears, Williams has also been a popular pick among bettors, garnering a second-best 14.3% of the handle at DraftKings. There's a clear gap to the next tier of money attractors for the sportsbook, which includes Prescott (7.4%), Herbert (7.2%) and Maye (7.2%).

Meanwhile, the Offensive Rookie of the Year odds board reflects a different reality than MVP's, with several non-quarterbacks actually favored to take home the hardware. Running back Jeremiyah Love (+550), wide receiver Carnell Tate (+600) and running back Jadarian Price (+650) top the OROY odds board, with 2026 first overall pick Fernando Mendoza being the first QB to check in at +750, per DraftKings odds.

The biggest factor in this pricing is, of course, playing time, as there are no rookie quarterbacks starting for their teams to begin the 2026 season, a relative rarity. That said, bookmakers are going to be ready to pivot if and when one of the first-year signal callers does get to play.

"Lateness in the season holds so much more weight. That's why Mendoza is still there under the expectation that if he does start the season at week 11, week 12, he actually probably still has a decent chance to go ahead and win it," BetMGM trading manager Christian Cipollini told ESPN. "If somebody like Carson Beck starts at week six, week seven, he's one that'll be in that conversation pretty quick just because he's a quarterback. If there's any injuries to maybe Matthew Stafford and Ty Simpson gets in, he'd suddenly fly up the ranks."

It reflects in the DraftKings betting splits with Mendoza attracting the most handle at 15.1%, with Love (13.2%) and Price (11.1%) in chase.

One other name to watch is wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling, who shortened from the 60-1 range to a fifth-best 10-1 after a slew of offseason injuries for the San Francisco 49ers. BetMGM counts him as their most-bet player by tickets (9.2%) and handle (11.7%).

"This market will be an interesting one to trade as the season gets going," said Feazel.