PressBox recently chatted with longtime gaming reporter Bill Ordine about the futures bets he likes for the Super Bowl, MVP and Offensive Player of the Year.
PressBox: What team intrigues you the most in terms of a Super Bowl futures bet?
Bill Ordine: Pittsburgh’s ascendency is a result of Pittsburgh’s own accomplishments so far as well as the misfortune of its two chief rivals in the division. … If you want to presume that the Steelers are very likely to be in the playoffs, once you’re in the playoffs, anything can happen. We have seen bottom seeds make runs to the Super Bowl before. I’m not going to say they’re going to be a bottom seed if they make the playoffs, but it appears they’re going to make the playoffs. Anything can happen. Aaron Rodgers can get hurt and then they’d be in a jam just like a couple of their competitors. But at the moment, Pittsburgh would appear to be a pretty decent lottery ticket. That’s not a bad lottery ticket to be holding, for them to win the Super Bowl. To win other categories like the conference, the odds are not quite as attractive. At the beginning of the season, their over-under was 8.5, and here they are. That is a trend in terms of a particular team. Pittsburgh is in a very advantageous position because of their own achievements and because of the problems that Cincinnati and now Baltimore are facing.
PB: Does any NFC team pique your interest in this regard?
BO: Tampa Bay really is not so much of a dark horse. They were considered to be the class of the NFC South right from the get-go. They have proven to be every bit of a formidable Super Bowl contender. Baker Mayfield continues to get better. He’s developed into quite a leader and consequently his team now has a legitimate chance of winning another Super Bowl. … Tampa Bay I think is less of a surprise [than Pittsburgh], but they have pretty good odds to win the Super Bowl. They just played the defending champs, and they scared the defending champs. They can play with the best in their conference.
PB: What MVP futures bets do you like?
BO: I think some of these trends play out when you look at both MVP and Offensive Player of the Year. MVPs are almost always quarterbacks. Player of the Year can be a running back, wide receiver, that sort of thing. On the MVP, all Ravens fans know that Lamar Jackson has won it twice. But it doesn’t look like he’s going to be in the running this year, though, particularly given the injury situation. I think Baker Mayfield’s value to win MVP is not so bad. He lights it up with a lot of passing yardage. All the metrics that are used to eventually win those awards, Mayfield seems to be on a pretty good trajectory.
Along with that, he is beginning to attract a certain glow around the league for being a leader, for being a tough-guy kind of quarterback. He reminds me of Jim McMahon of the Chicago Bears and going back a long way, Bobby Layne of the Detroit Lions in the 1950s — a tough guy who does whatever he has to do to win. Mayfield is getting that reputation around the league.
… Another guy who I would consider is Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford is a guy who has always had a lot of attention around the league. He gets a lot of attention in the press, and it’s always positive. There’s nothing about Matthew Stafford that people find off-putting. Some of this awards business is a bit of a popularity contest. The stats have to be there, but sometimes it does come down to who has the glow about them. If I’m looking for value, I think Matthew Stafford might be the guy. Of course, the chalk is Josh Allen.
PB: Do any Offensive Player of the Year futures bets stand out?
BO: For Offensive Player of the Year, it is way too early, but Puka Nacua is the favorite. If he keeps playing like this, I guess he’ll win that. But behind him are Jonathan Taylor, another very well-liked guy around the league and in the press and among fans, and then there’s Bijan Robinson, who could wind up being held back by the overall performance of the Falcons. These awards tend to go to guys whose teams do well. If we look at the two guys who went gangbusters last year, Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley are way back in the pack at the moment, unless they were to regain the form that they had in 2024.
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