Ashton Jeanty to the Bears rumors are swirling, and betting odds are on the move
Christian Cipollini, trading manager at BetMGM, has said that 'books tend not to do well on the draft.'
Recently, rumors, coupled with the rise of social media, have played a significant role in that outcome.
A couple of years ago, a Reddit post by a random user lit the internet and sportsbooks on fire. A poster had said that Will Levis was 'telling friends and family that Carolina will take him on Thursday.' The post, of course, got aggregated and amplified across all of the internet, causing Levis' No. 1 pick odds to free-fall from +4000 to +400, with all of the bets coming in on Levis to be the first pick.
Advertisement
Another rumor has now taken over the lead-up to the 2025 NFL Draft, this one dealing with Boise State star running back Ashton Jeanty. While no NFL insider has officially announced anything regarding Jeanty, all major sportsbooks have seen his odds shift drastically as of Thursday afternoon.
Earlier this week, Jeanty became the betting favorite to be the fifth overall pick at BetMGM. That pick currently belongs to the Jacksonville Jaguars. As of Thursday morning, the Jaguars were -200 (bet $200 to win $100) favorites to draft Jeanty, followed by the Las Vegas Raiders and Chicago Bears at +300 (bet $100 to win $300 each), respectively. But, those odds have moved significantly leading up to the draft, as the Bears are now -190 favorites to land Jeanty, with the Jaguars in second at +135 and the Raiders a distant third at +850.
Jeanty is still the clear favorite to be the fifth overall pick as well at BetMGM, as he's priced at -300. The second choice is Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham at +360.
So, if the odds are suggesting Jeanty will be the fifth pick and that the Bears will draft Jeanty, the question on everyone's minds becomes: Do we have a trade brewing?
'We saw something similar with J.J. McCarthy last year, where there was late movement on his team odds that suggested a trade would happen,' said Christian Cipollini, trading manager at BetMGM. 'With what we're seeing on the bookmaking side, there's certainly a lot of interest in Jeanty now going to the Bears. It's enough where it's flipped from where he was a small favorite this morning to go there to now us having it as a 65% chance that he ends up going to the Bears.'
And where does this all leave the Jaguars? The Bears currently hold the No. 10 pick, and there has been a significant shift for that market as well.
On Monday, Penn State tight end Tyler Warren was the +350 favorite to be the 10th overall pick, followed by Jeanty at +375. Much further down the board was Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan at +2200 odds. Even earlier Thursday, McMillan was still listed as a +1100 long shot.
Advertisement
But McMillan is now a +325 co-favorite with Warren to be the 10th pick, even though the Bears already have D.J. Moore and last year's first-round pick, Rome Odunze, at wideout. The Jaguars, meanwhile, have a bunch of question marks in their receiving corps behind Brian Thomas Jr., especially with Christian Kirk moving on to the Kansas City Chiefs and Evan Engram joining the Denver Broncos.
Additionally, BetMGM also has a betting market for which team will draft McMillan. The Jaguars are now +175 co-favorites there along with the Dallas Cowboys. No other team has odds shorter than +1100, except for those two.
Bets have also been pouring in today on another major move in the top 10, this time for a quarterback.
'There's been the most action on Jeanty and McMillan props today, along with Jaxson Dart,' Cipollini said. 'We've taken a lot of money on him to go in the top 10 and top 5. He hasn't been projected in that range, but we've seen a good amount of action of him going a lot higher than expected.'
Dart's odds to be selected in the top 5 have moved from +6700 earlier today down to +750 — the same price as Shedeur Sanders. Dart also moved from +550 to +310 to be a top-10 pick, having better odds in that market than Sanders at +400.
Will we see a major swap involving the Jaguars' No. 5 pick and the Bears' No. 10 pick tonight? Regardless of what happens, the sportsbooks are not taking any chances.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
2025 fantasy predictions: Who is this year's JSN? (Breakout WR)
Our summer 'Flip the script' series rolls on with Destination Devy's Ray Garvin joining Matt Harmon to identify who 'This year's JSN' is and pick the best candidate to be the breakout WR of the 2025 fantasy season. The two look back at Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 2024 breakout campaign to see what themes they can pull from it for this year's candidates. Harmon and Garvin identify eight young WRs ranked outside the top 30 this draft season that have the potential to finish as a top 12 WR in 2025 and ultimately pick the winner of 'This year's JSN'. Advertisement To start the show, Harmon shares a quick update on Yahoo Fantasy Forecast and Andy Behrens and Dalton Del Don. (0:50) - Matt Harmon shares host update on Yahoo Fantasy Forecast (5:50) - Ray Garvin joins the show for 'Flip the script: Who is this year's JSN' (6:30) - What constitutes a breakout season for a WR? (11:20) - Looking back at JSN"s 2024 breakout season and his 2025 outlook (22:10) - Candidate: Bears WR Rome Odunze (29:55) - Candidate: Saints WR Chris Olave (34:55) - Candidate: Colts WR Josh Downs (40:45) - Candidate: 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall (47:10) - Candidate: Cowboys WR George Pickens Advertisement (53:55) - Candidate: Packers WR Jayden Reed (59:15) - Candidate: Patriots WR DeMario 'Pop' Douglas (1:03:20) - Candidate: Bills WR Keon Coleman (1:08:30) - Who is this year's JSN? Our summer 'Flip the script' series rolls on with Destination Devy's Ray Garvin joining Matt Harmon to identify who 'This year's JSN' is and pick the best candidate to be the breakout WR of the 2025 fantasy season. The two look back at Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 2024 breakout campaign to see what themes they can pull from it for this year's candidates. Harmon and Garvin identify eight young WRs ranked outside the top 30 this draft season that have the potential to finish as a top 12 WR in 2025 and ultimately pick the winner of 'This year's JSN'. (Credit: Jason Jung) (Jason Jung) 🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Caleb Williams puts in extra reps at voluntary OTAs, Colston Loveland gives more detail on recovery
The last portion of voluntary OTAs is usually reserved for rookies and fringe players trying to make the 53-man roster, but Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is using it as an opportunity to get more reps learning Ben Johnson's playbook, while Colston Loveland takes the opportunity to better get to know his QB on the road to recovery from a shoulder injury. WGN's Josh Frydman reports on the Bears from Halas Hall. Don't forget to like/comment/subscribe! It helps the WGN News channel greatly. Get the WGN News Mobile App: Apple Store: Google Play: Follow GN Sports on social media! Twitter/X: Instagram: Catch GN Sports weeknights at 10:30 p.m. Central Time on WGN! For more coverage of sports around the city, follow Chicago's Very Own on Twitter/X Jarrett Payton: Kaitlin Sharkey: Josh Frydman: Chris Boden: Rick Tarsitano: Eli Ong:
Chicago Tribune
7 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago Bears CEO Kevin Warren pays nearly $2.3M for Lake Forest mansion
In a move sure to lend further credence to the view that the Chicago Bears will build a new stadium in Arlington Heights, Kevin Warren, the team's president and CEO, in May paid $2.25 million for a five-bedroom, 8,725-square-foot shingle-style mansion in Lake Forest. Warren, 61, became the Bears' president and CEO in January 2023 after serving for more than three years as the commissioner of the Rosemont-based Big Ten conference. During his time overseeing the Big Ten, Warren first rented a 21st-floor condo in a building on Lake Shore Drive in Streeterville, and then in 2023, he and his wife, Greta, paid $1.75 million for a three-bedroom, 2,547-square-foot condominium on the 13th floor of the same high-rise. Since June 2021, the Bears have been known to be considering locations for a new stadium, including building a new arena in Arlington Heights on the 326-acre site of the former Arlington Park racetrack — land that the team purchased in 2023. Warren soon emerged as an enthusiastic proponent of the idea of a new stadium on Chicago's lakefront. In April, Warren told reporters that the team had shifted from solely pursuing building a new stadium downtown to considering both downtown and Arlington Heights. 'The focus now is both downtown and Arlington Heights,' Warren said in April. 'One thing I have said before is that these are not linear processes or projects. They take time.' Then, in May, the Tribune broke the news that the team's focus had moved once again, this time to Arlington Heights exclusively. Warren's decision to buy a suburban home is sure to spark speculation that the team now is near-certain to build in Arlington Heights, although Warren's new house also is close to the Bears' Halas Hall headquarters and training complex in Lake Forest. The house Warren purchased has a wraparound deck, a new cedar shake roof, a great room with a 19-foot alder wood ceiling and a Lannon stone fireplace, and a kitchen with high-end appliances, a center island and a breakfast bar. Other features include a private office with a fireplace and and a first-floor primary bedroom suite with a bathroom that has dual vanities and heated stone floors. Downstairs, the lower level has a family room opening to a stone patio, a guest bedroom suite and an exercise room. With Warren now having purchased a place in the northern suburbs, he joins several of his colleagues, including Bears general manager Ryan Poles, who paid $2.077 million in 2023 for a 5,200-square-foot house in Lincolnshire. Recently hired head coach Ben Johnson is not known to have bought a house here yet. The sellers lost money on the Lake Forest mansion. They paid $2.39 million for it in 2015, and they first listed it in 2023 for $2.495 million. They cut their asking price in April 2024 to $2.4 million, and they signed a deal in April with Warren, who closed on the purchase in May through an opaque land trust that masks his identity. The mansion had a $35,839 property tax bill in the 2024 tax year. It also has $295-a-month homeowners association dues. Real estate agent Annie Royster Lenzke, who represented Warren in his purchase, did not respond to a request for comment. Her colleague Dawn McKenna also did not respond to a request for comment.
