It's the start of another huge season of NFL and such is the manner of the league you're never quite sure if the hot favourite for the Super Bowl will actually be the last team standing come February.
Rookies are always hard to predict, but the hype surrounding St Louis' wide receiver Tavon Austin has seen him installed as the
7/2 favourite to win
Offensive Rookie of the Year while Green Bay hope 11/2 shot
Eddie Lacy will finally give them a running game to speak about.
Dark Horse
Denard Robinson is an interesting one in this market as a
40/1 outsider. Drafted by Jacksonville, he's listed simply as OW (offensive weapon) on their roster - and has been running the wildcat in practice and with their regular QB Blaine Gabbert not having shown much so far he could get more action than you'd expect.
So with Robinson able to throw, run, catch, and return kick-offs and punts, he could heavily involved and with the Jags woefully short on playmakers he could certainly make his mark during the season.
Also watch out for Kenbrell Thompkins - he may be an undrafted rookie but he looks to have played his way into a starting spot as receiver for the New England Patriots - and anyone getting regular service from Tom Brady could post very good numbers indeed.
Detroit's Ziggy Ansah is the
10/1 favourite to be the
best defensive rookie, but Arizona's new safety Tyrann Mathieu - aka 'The Honey badger' - loves taking risks and making big plays, plus with his work on special teams he could produce enough highlight reel material to cash in at
20/1.
If you can't decide on your Super Bowl or divisional winner, you can take a stab at which teams will make the play-offs. Obviously the big-hitters come at prohibitive odds and there's always one big team that misses out, but there is some value around.
Minnesota have the reigning MVP and some improved receiving options for QB Christian Ponder to use, so
9/2 on them just making the play-offs, as they did last year, looks a decent bet despite them playing in such a tough division.
