The NFL regular season is about three weeks away from kicking off, and one of the best ways to prepare is by getting some futures bets in for the upcoming season. The beauty of these futures bets is that even fans who only pay attention to the Las Vegas Raiders can join in on the action since a wide range of team- and player-specific markets are available across multiple online sportsbooks.
With that said, with so many NFL betting options available, it can be difficult to sort through which wagers are worth making. To make that easier, we’ll break down which bets are worth a full investment, a half investment, and which to avoid entirely.
Raiders Bets Worth a Full Investment
Davante Adams, 100+ Receiving Yards in 8+ Individual Regular Season Games (+100 on DraftKings): Adams came to Las Vegas in anticipation of reuniting with his college teammate Derek Carr, and he got that for 15 games before the team decided to look at the future of their quarterback room. Despite all that back-and-forth and frustration, Adams still finished with eight games in which he had over 100 yards.
Entering this season, Adams should get an entire season as the primary target for Jimmy Garoppolo and should not have too many problems with the QB’s hesitancy to push the ball downfield since he was 9th in the league in yards after the catch last season. This is arguably one of the better Raiders futures bets that can be found on sports betting apps in Nevada and all over the US.
Maxx Crosby Over 11.75 Sacks (+120 on DraftKings): The anchor of the Raiders’ defense finished last season with a career-high 12.5 sacks. While Crosby has turned into one of the best pass-rushers in the game, the Raiders finished last year ranked 30th in sack percentage. The positive, though, is that Las Vegas addressed that lack of pass rush by taking Tyree Wilson in the first round, and Chandler Jones seems motivated for an improved season, which could free up Crosby, likely allowing him to tie or exceed his sack total from last season.
One more…
Any Raiders Player to Have 12+ Regular Season Rushing or Receiving Touchdowns (+125 on DraftKings): This number was cleared by both Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams last season, and both will be running it back in the same system with seemingly more stability at quarterback. Las Vegas finished 12th in average touchdowns per game last season with an average of 2.5 per game. Jacobs could be set for another strong season if and when he ends his holdout, while Adams remains the team’s primary target out of the receivers.
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Bets Worth a Half Investment
Jimmy Garoppolo Over 3300.5 Passing Yards (-110 on DraftKings): Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way: this entire bet rides on whether the new signal caller can stay on the field. Staying healthy has not been Garoppolo’s strong suit, but when he has, the numbers show he can rack up the yards. In the two seasons he played in 15 games or more, he passed for 3,810 and 3,978 yards, respectively.
Now he gets to play with a coach he is comfortable with and a talented offense that contains Adams, Renfrow, and recent draft pick Michael Mayer. Whether or not he can stay healthy depends on the offensive line, which ranks 19th in the NFL on PFF but is coming off a strong season.
There are a lot of factors that go into all of these bets, but the factors surrounding this bet are the reason to keep it a half-unit wager. If you get past the health concern, the Raiders have the second toughest schedule in the league this season, according to Sharp Football Analysis, so they will not be lining up against many lackluster defenses.
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Bets to Avoid
Jakobi Meyers or Hunter Renfrow to Have Over 1250+ Regular Season Receiving Yards (+400 on DraftKings): While I’m sure all Raiders fans would love to see someone step up behind Adams in the receiving game, this is a hefty mark to reach for Meyers and Renfrow. Not only have neither of them eclipsed this mark in their careers, but the Raiders’ second-leading receiver last season finished with 690 yards.
Meyers’ struggle to hit this target will likely stem from his lack of yards after the catch. While Davante Adams will be fine with Garoppolo’s lack of pushing it downfield, Meyers could struggle to produce the same amount of production in terms of yards, especially since he finished 79th in the league last season in YAC as a member of the Patriots.
*Top Photo: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports