NFL Combine offers prospects and bettors opportunity to fatten wallets
Feb 24, 2020, 11:08 AM
Arizona Cardinals' 2019 second-round draft pick Andy Isabella runs the 40-yard dash during the NFL football scouting combine. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
The NFL Combine is the best opportunity for college football players to improve their draft stock and increase their first NFL paycheck.
There are unique opportunities for bettors to add to their bankrolls, too.
Online sportsbook OddsShark.com listed a handful of players you can place bets on for 40-yard dash times as well as other exercises such as bench press, three-cone drill, vertical jump, broad jump and the shuttle runs.
The longest odds available are betting that John Ross’s NFL Combine record 40-yard dash time will be beaten. At +550 odds, a bettor could win $550 dollars by risking $100 if someone runs faster than his time of 4.22 seconds. You would have to risk $1,000 to win $100 if you think the record time will stand at the end of the weekend.
Bettors can also place over/under wagers on individual 40-yard dash times of players like CeeDee Lamb, D’Andre Swift, Jerry Jeudy, Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert.
RELATED STORIES
Jeudy has the fastest listed over/under at 4.44 seconds. Projected No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow’s over/under was set at 4.81 seconds while Oregon product Justin Herbert was listed a decimal faster at 4.71.
Ohio State’s Chase Young was listed at 4.65 seconds but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the defensive end will not participate in drills at the combine.
The NFL Network’s Rich Eisen annually runs the 40-yard dash and OddsShark set the number for his time at 6.01. Eisen has finished under 6-seconds flat in two out of the last four years while his 2019 mark of 6.00 would have fallen under the number set for 2020.
His “Run Rich Run” fundraiser has been raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital since 2005.
The site is projecting that someone will bench press 225 lbs more than 38.5 times. Bettors must risk $150 to win $100 that at least one person will crank out 39 reps while they can risk $100 to win $110 that no one can reach that mark.
According to Wikipedia, 17 participants have hoisted the weight for more than 40 reps since 1999.
The over/under for the vertical jump is 43.5 inches. Over wagerers are getting -125 odds while under bettors are getting -115 odds.
The NFL Combine runs from February 23 through March 2.
