Best bets to draft Trey Lance, Justin Fields
Quarterbacks Trey Lance and Justin Fields are arguably the two most intriguing prospects leading up to Thursday's NFL draft.
Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson are locks to find homes with the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets, respectively, but finding the perfect franchise pairings for Lance and Fields has been a difficult challenge throughout the draft process.
Today, we're going to do just that.
Here are the odds for which teams will take Fields and Lance, along with our best value bets.
Team to draft Trey Lance
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| 49ers | +200 |
| Broncos | +300 |
| Patriots | +500 |
| Lions | +700 |
| Falcons | +800 |
| Panthers | +900 |
| Washington | +900 |
| Bears | +1100 |
| Raiders | +1600 |
| Saints | +1600 |
| Texans | +2000 |
| Eagles | +2000 |
| Steelers | +2000 |
| Seahawks | +2000 |
| Dolphins | +3300 |
| Jets | +3300 |
| Vikings | +5000 |
| Giants | +5000 |
| Colts | +6600 |
| Browns | +8000 |
| Jaguars | +8000 |
Only displaying teams with odds shorter than 100-1
The Chicago Bears aren't being taken seriously enough as a suitor for either Lance or Fields. If we assume the San Francisco 49ers take Mac Jones at No. 3, Bears general manager Ryan Pace could make his second brash move in five years and send the house for a quarterback.
Chicago enters the season with Andy Dalton and Nick Foles on the depth chart, with no development behind them. The front office desperately needs to make a splash under center, and it needs to come on Day 1.
Lance has unlimited upside at only 20 years old and could sit a season behind both veterans. After whiffing on Mitchell Trubisky back in 2017, Pace and Co. will swing for the fences again here.
Best bet - Bears +1100
Team to draft Justin Fields
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Panthers | +300 |
| Patriots | +300 |
| Falcons | +400 |
| Broncos | +400 |
| Lions | +500 |
| 49ers | +500 |
| Washington | +800 |
| Bears | +1000 |
| Jets | +1600 |
| Raiders | +2000 |
| Saints | +2500 |
| Steelers | +2500 |
| Jaguars | +3300 |
| Eagles | +3300 |
| Dolphins | +4000 |
| Texans | +5000 |
| Seahawks | +5000 |
| Colts | +6600 |
| Vikings | +6600 |
| Giants | +6600 |
| Browns | +8000 |
If Fields is the fifth quarterback off the board, expect the stakes to be high. There's a clear drop-off to the next tier of signal-callers, and the Ohio State product was long considered the QB2 behind Lawrence.
My bid's on the New England Patriots, who have also been linked to Jones or Lance. Here, they get a dual-threat quarterback who can learn from Cam Newton before taking the reins full time.
After all, every other team in the division has gotten a bit of a head start: Josh Allen's crushing it in Buffalo, the Jets have planned for Wilson's arrival for months, and Tua Tagovailoa's already got some experience under his belt in Miami.
In my perfect betting world, New England phones the Detroit Lions and trades for pick No. 7 to select the former Buckeye.
Best bet - Patriots (+300)
Alex Kolodziej is a betting writer for theScore. He can quote every line from "Rounders" and appreciates franchises that regularly wear alternate jerseys. Find him on Twitter @AJKolodziej.