NFC South Futures Odds Preview
To the surprise of no one, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are heavily favored to win the NFC South division this season.
On the NFC South futures odds at Bovada Sportsbook, the Buccaneers are -250 favorites to repeat as division champs. The Buccaneers slipped from the top spot earlier this year during Tom Brady’s brief retirement, but moved to the top of the pack again once Brady returned.
Buccaneers minus-money favorites to repeat in NFC South
While Brady recommitted to the Bucs, not everyone will be back this year. Gone are tight end Rob Gronkowski, wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Ronald Jones. Another important departure was head coach Bruce Arians, who retired to turn the reins over to Todd Bowles.
Despite those losses, the Buccaneers offense around Brady remains dangerous. Wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are joined by Russell Gage and Julio Jones, while Cameron Brate and Kyle Rudolph will try to fill the big hole left by Gronkowski. With Jones gone, more of the backfield load will fall on Leonard Fournette.
Allen has big shoes to fill replacing Payton in the Big Easy
Following Tampa Bay on the NFC South futures are the New Orleans Saints at +300. Like the Buccaneers, the Saints will have a new head coach this season after Sean Payton’s retirement. Dennis Allen will have the difficult task of trying to replace Payton.
The Saints are coming off a 9-8 season and their chances of improving in 2022 likely hinge on quarterback Jameis Winston. Last season Winston started seven games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. In those seven games, the Saints were 5-2, which included wins over Tampa Bay and the Green Bay Packers.
Winston appears to have an upgrade at wide receiver this season with Michael Thomas returning from a season-long layoff to partner with Jarvis Landry and rookie Chris Olave. The Saints backfield attack will continue to be led by Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram.
Finishing off the NFC South futures are the Carolina Panthers at +900 and the Atlanta Falcons at +3500.
Success of Panthers may hinge on health of McCaffrey
The Panthers entered the preseason with a QB battle between Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. Mayfield appears to be the favorite, which would line up a revenge game in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns.
The Panthers were 5-12 last season after starting the campaign 3-0. Any chance of improving on that record may hinge on running back Christian McCaffrey. He was limited to only seven games last season due to injury after appearing in only three games the previous year.
Falcons distant long shots with Mariota guiding offense
The Falcons are the division long shots, which seems appropriate for a team that went 7-10 last season and traded away veteran quarterback Matt Ryan, giving Marcus Mariota another shot at a starting QB job.
With Calvin Ridley suspended for the season and Russell Gage now in Tampa Bay, Mariota’s top targets will likely be tight end Kyle Pitts and rookie wide receiver Drake London.