Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is expecting to go between the No. 6 pick and the No. 12 pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night. He might be surprised by a call before that.
The betting odds have shifted and Jeanty is now the betting favorite to go to the Jaguars as the No. 5 overall pick.
The Jaguars are now +110 favorites to take Jeanty, the first time in the pre-draft process that Jacksonville has been the favorite to take Jeanty at DraftKings. The Raiders, picking sixth, now have the second-shortest odds at +145, and the Bears have slipped to +300.
Jeanty is now a -125 favorite to go fifth overall and a -160 favorite to go somewhere in the Top 5, with the possibility that someone could even take Jeanty before the fifth pick.
After years of NFL teams viewing running backs as less valuable — and almost never valuable enough to be worth a Top 5 draft pick — the season Saquon Barkley had on the way to the Eagles winning the Super Bowl has seemed to shift perceptions of whether a running back can be worthy of a top pick. No running back has gone in the Top 5 since the Giants took Barkley with the second overall pick in 2018. Jeanty could be next.
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