Philadelphia Eagles futures bets to place before 2022 NFL season
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Week 1 of the NFL season is finally here, and that means betting on NFL games and props is also back. It will start Thursday night in the season opener between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams. But, we're going to look at the futures market.
NFL futures bets have been out for months now, but let's look at some last-minute Eagles futures to lock in before the season starts Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
Eagles to win NFC East
This week, the Eagles became the betting favorite to win the NFC East. If you're reading this and already have this bet locked in, congrats. You probably got it at a much better price than the +130 it's currently at on most sportsbooks.
But, don't let the odds changing stop you from locking it in. The Eagles winning the NFC East at +130 is still a very nice play.
The Eagles jumped to the favorites this week due to the Dallas Cowboys losing starting left tackle Tyron Smith until at least December, and who knows if the 31-year-old year old will return then. The Cowboys, who won the division last year, currently sit at +140 to win the NFC East.
Since 2016, the Cowboys have a 41-24 record with Smith in the lineup compared to 17-15 with him out of the lineup.
An NFC East team hasn't won the division in consecutive years since the George W. Bush administration.
The Eagles were the last team to do so when they won the division four straight years from 2001 to 2004.
Lock in the Eagles and months from now that future bet will have a nice payday. They have the best roster in the division and made major upgrades this offseason.
Eagles over 9.5 wins
The Eagles nearly topped 9.5 wins last year. They beat up on bad teams with dreadful quarterbacks but weren't able to defeat any teams with talented signal-callers.
Well, the Eagles got lucky again. They have one of the easiest schedules in the league this season, only trailing the Washington Commanders and Cowboys.
Here's a list of quarterbacks the Eagles will face this season:
- Jared Goff
- Kirk Cousins
- Carson Wentz 2x
- Trevor Lawrence
- Kyler Murray
- Dak Prescott 2x
- Mitch Trubisky/Kenny Pickett
- Davis Mills
- Matt Ryan
- Aaron Rodgers
- Ryan Tannehill
- Daniel Jones
- Justin Fields
- Jameis Winston
None of those names strike fear in opponents besides Murray, Rodgers and Prescott. With the upgrades the Eagles made on defense, they should be able to compete against teams with better quarterback play, but that also depends on how defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon decides to use his personnel.
The Eagles to go over 9.5 is -140. You'll have to pay a little more to get a nice payout, but it's still worth it.
Let Dallas Goedert eat
This might be my favorite bet I've taken in this post, and I'd hop on it ASAP.
Dallas Goedert's over/under for receiving yards this season is currently listed at 675.5 at -110. He crushed that total by nearly 200 yards last season and shared tight end reps with Zach Ertz for the early portion of the year.
The fifth-year tight end is in for a monster season.
A.J. Brown will eat into Goedert's target share, but he'll also open up the field for the South Dakota State product, allowing him to find space against opposing defenses.
Goedert has reportedly been targeted a ton in camp, and one beat writer predicts him to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards if he stays healthy.
In 10 games following the Ertz trade, Goedert had 41 catches and 614 yards, and that was in the latter part of the season when the Eagles shifted their offensive philosophy to running the ball more.
If that trend continues, Goedert will go well over the 675.5 mark this season.
TD machine
It took head coach Nick Sirianni and his coaching staff some time to figure it out, but involving Jalen Hurts in the running game completely changed their offense.
While analysts are skeptical of Hurts' potential to develop as a passer, he'll remain a threat on the ground as long as he's healthy.
Hurts led all quarterbacks in rushing last season with 784 yards, slightly edging Lamar Jackson of the Ravens, who missed the end of the season due to an injury. He also scored 10 rushing touchdowns, which ranked first amongst quarterbacks. And he did that while missing two games last season – one due to an ankle injury and sitting out the final week of the season against the Cowboys.
Hurts' rushing touchdowns over/under on the season is 7.5 at –110.
Bettors should take the over on Hurts' rushing touchdowns this season because the Eagles will most likely continue to weaponize his ability on the ground, particularly in the red zone.
When placing futures bets, volume is a huge factor. And as we saw last year, Hurts should have plenty of volume again rushing the ball, considering the Eagles brought back the same group of running backs with the exception of Trey Sermon last week.
Hurts had 31 rushing attempts inside the 20-yard line last season, which was more than running backs Javonte Williams, Najee Harris and only one behind Aaron Jones.
Inside the 10-yard-line, Hurts had 22 attempts. That number tied Nick Chubb and was one more than A.J. Dillon, Melvin Gordon and Jones.
Finally, Hurts had 13 rushing attempts inside the 5-yard line in 2021, which was top-six in the league. He had more attempts than Chubb, Leonard Fournette, Dillon and Ezekiel Elliot. Seven of those 13 attempts were good for touchdowns.
Hurts' other two rushing scores in the red zone came inside the 20.
The only rushing touchdown Hurts didn't score in the red zone came against the Saints in Week 11 when he broke a defender's ankles and sent Eagles fans at Lincoln Financial Field into a frenzy.
There's been a lot of talk about the Eagles adding a power back in the Jordan Howard role this offseason, but they already got one – it's Hurts.
It's worth noting that Miles Sanders, who scored zero rushing touchdowns last season, is due for some positive regression in finding the end zone.
But regardless, Hurts should lead the Eagles in rushing touchdowns this season.
Editors note: All odds are courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
