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NFL futures: Seven bets you can make on which QB wins a starting job
The Pittsburgh Steelers could do a lot worse than to turn Justin Fields loose. Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

NFL futures: Seven bets you can make on which QB wins a starting job

As it happens every year, the QB carousel is alive and well in the NFL. Not only have we seen a few journeyman quarterbacks change teams, we've seen the usual influx of young talent through the NFL Draft.

As such, there are betting markets available for seven teams and which passer takes the first snaps of the season. Odds are courtesy of DraftKings.

Odds for which QBs take each team's first snaps in Week 1

Denver Broncos

  • Bo Nix (-425)
  • Jarrett Stidham (+450)
  • Zach Wilson (+1000)

Las Vegas Raiders odds

  • Gardner Minshew (-200)
  • Aidan O'Connell (+140)

Minnesota Vikings odds

  • Sam Darnold (-155)
  • J.J. McCarthy (+120)

New England Patriots odds

  • Jacoby Brissett (-250)
  • Drake Maye (+190)

New York Giants odds

  • Daniel Jones (-425)
  • Drew Lock (+275)

Pittsburgh Steelers odds

  • Russell Wilson (-700)
  • Justin Fields (+450)

Seattle Seahawks odds

  • Geno Smith (-600)
  • Sam Howell (+390)

There are some interesting markets here, and some we wouldn't necessarily think are a quarterback competition, like with Seattle and New York. It's intriguing to see how sportsbooks are valuing various passers and their situations on their teams.

Two bets we like in these markets

J.J. McCarthy (+120)

Sam Darnold is certainly a solid bridge quarterback option for Minnesota, but the Vikings are hoping that it's Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, selected No. 10 overall, is their franchise passer of the future.

Minnesota isn't quite in a good "bridge-QB" spot, considering they have and in-his-prime Justin Jefferson, who as of this writing has yet to sign a long-term extension with the Vikings.

One would think that Jefferson would like to gauge McCarthy, and it would behoove Minnesota to get him involved as early as possible to see what they have.

We'll dabble at plus-money here. 

Justin Fields (+450)

We're already on the record that we think Justin Fields wins this job and has a big year for the Pittsburgh Steelers. We just don't understand what the benefit of playing Russell Wilson is.

More and more reports have come out that paint Wilson in an unflattering light as a bad teammate who can't relate to his guys. Fields appears to be the opposite, and it's not hard to envision a world where Fields wins over the team and staff this summer.

His ceiling, at this juncture, is far higher than Wilson's.

What does Pittsburgh have to lose? Let the young kid loose and see if you can tap the potential we know is in there.

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