What a difference a year can make.
No one embodies that more than the Houston Texans, who went from worst to first in the AFC South last season behind a first-year quarterback and rookie head coach.
DeMeco Ryans was the right hire for a franchise that had gone just 11-38-1 combined over the previous three seasons and C.J. Stroud proved to be the franchise-altering quarterback the Texans needed when they drafted him with the No. 3 overall pick.
Stroud led Houston on a 7-3 surge to finish the regular season and captured an improbable AFC South title. Stroud then led Houston to a first-round playoff win over the Cleveland Browns with 274 passing yards and 3 touchdown tosses.
After winning the Rookie of the Year Award, Stroud is now considered one of the popular betting picks for an even bigger honor for the 2024-25 season: NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
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Stroud soars up MVP odds board
Stroud threw for over 4,100 yards and 23 touchdowns last season, but oddsmakers are expecting a second-year jump for the Ohio State product. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Stroud is tied with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow as the third-favorite to be named the Most Valuable Player next season at +900 ($100 bet wins $900), which carries an implied probability of 10%.
Only Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes (+600) and Buffalo’s Josh Allen (+800) are higher on the MVP odds board, which proves how loaded the AFC’s group of signal-callers are with Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson (+1000) rounding out the top-5 spots.
Less than a month ago when futures for the 2024-25 season was posted, Stroud was eighth on the odds board to win MVP at +1400. He’s now shot up to a tie for the No. 3 slot thanks to Houston’s acquisition of two-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs in a trade with the Buffalo Bills.
Texans favored to repeat in AFC South
According to DraftKings, the Texans have a win total for next season at 9.5 games with juice to the over (-140). Houston opened as the odds-on favorite to win the AFC South at +135 in March.
Those odds have gone to +110 over the last month, which is an implied probability of 47.62% that the Texans will win back-to-back division titles for the fourth time in franchise history.
Houston is now a -190 (65.52% implied probability) favorite to make the AFC playoffs. That’s gone up from -140 in March.
Game odds update periodically and are subject to change.