NFL Defensive Player Of The Year Odds: Watt The Heavy Favourite

The NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award has been a two-man show over the last decade or so with either Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald or Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt winning nine of the last 12 awards.

But oddsmakers at Sportsbook looking forward to who might win the award for the 2021-22 NFL season now think Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end T.J. Watt (-350) has all but locked it up after his incredible Week 17 performance.

Watt is followed by Micah Parsons (+200), Aaron Donald (+800), Myles Garrett (+2000) and Trevon Diggs (+3300) to round out the players on the oddsboard.

If you’re a new bettor and you’ve never wagered on NFL Futures before, check out Odds Shark’s handy guide on how to bet on the NFL that will get you up to speed.

If you prefer offense over defense, you can also read up on which player is the favorite to win the NFL MVP Award in 2021-22.

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Who Is The Favorite To Win NFL Defensive Player Of The Year?

Odds as of January 4 at Sportsbook    

Sportsbook

NFL DPOY Odds Contenders

T.J. Watt (-350)

T.J. Watt essentially locked up the award with his Week 17 performance against the Cleveland Browns, recording four sacks, three tackles for a loss and five QB hits. He now leads the NFL with 21.5 sacks, 3.5 more than Robert Quinn and 6.5 ahead of Myles Garrett.

Watt has played two fewer games than Garrett and has 6.5 more sacks, three more forced fumbles, three more passes defended and four more tackles for a loss. He also has five more QB hits than Garrett. 

Watt is now just 1.5 sacks away from the all-time NFL single-season record. Although the race was up for grabs just one week ago, Watt has all but secured it with his spectacular outing vs Cleveland.

Micah Parsons (+200)

One month ago, Micah Parsons was sitting at +2800 in Defensive Player of the Year odds and we suggested it was time to give the Cowboys rookie some respect.

Parsons has rocketed up to second in Defensive Player of the Year odds.

Here’s a look at where he stands compared with Watt and Garrett statistically:

Watt: 21.5 sacks, 36 QB hits, 20 TFLs, 4 FF

Garrett: 15 sacks, 31 QB hits, 16 TFLs, 1 FF

Parsons: 13 sacks, 30 QB hits, 20 TFLs, 3 FF

Parsons also has almost twice as many tackles as the other two players because he plays off the ball as a traditional standup linebacker on a fair number of snaps. 

The incredible value has vanished on Parsons, but after a spectacular week by Watt, it may be a good thing if you didn’t place a bet on the Dallas linebacker. The Cowboys face the division rival Philadelphia Eagles in Week 18.

Aaron Donald (+800)

Is there any surprise that Aaron Donald is near the top of this list? Donald has won DPOY four times in his career and always appears near the top when it’s all said and done. This season, he has put together another tremendous year but will likely fall short of a fifth Defensive Player of the Year award.

Donald ranks tied for seventh in sacks with 12.5, fourth in tackles for a loss with 18 and fourth in forced fumbles with four. Even with the opposing team’s game-planning against him and even putting two or three guys on him at times, he still creates havoc.

It was a great season for Donald, but T.J. Watt was absolutely dominant down the stretch. A lot can change in a week, but I do not think there is anything Watt could do to lose the award at this moment.

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Understanding NFL Defensive Player Of The Year Odds

When you check out your NFL betting site of choice, you’ll see defensive player odds that look something like this:

TJ Watt -350

Micah Parsons +200

Aaron Donald +800

To bet on these odds, you would be making a futures bet – more on that in a bit. In this case, there is no clear favorite like there would be on a moneyline or spread bet. When you don’t see odds with a minus sign (-) beside them, then the player with the lowest odds is the fave. The rest are considered underdogs.

Sportsbook

If you think TJ Watt is the defensive player to beat, and you bet $100 on him, you’d get a payout of $128.57 – you get your $100 back along with your winnings of $28.57.

Our Odds Calculator will show you how much you’d win based on the odds and amount bet.

What Is A Prop Bet?

A prop is a bet on the occurrence or non-occurrence of certain outcomes that may not necessarily upset the outcome of an NFL game. In this case, it’s the Defensive Player of the Year, an award given out after the regular season.

You can make a bet like this as soon as the odds are announced. Oddsmakers will move the lines as players pad their stats, succumb to injury or their production decreases. If you see odds you like, jump on them like a loose ball after a fumble, otherwise the action could move so much that you’ll barely make a profit or maybe even not make one at all.