Longtime sports gambling writer Bill Ordine recently spoke with PressBox about his favorite NFL futures bets ahead of training camp, the teams that could make noise after not making the playoffs last year and more.
This has been edited for clarity and content. All odds are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
PressBox: What is your favorite NFL futures bet ahead of training camp?
Bill Ordine: One of the more humorous ones is Coach of the Year. The No. 1 favorite is Jesse Minter. The No. 2 favorite is John Harbaugh. The guy who always jumps out at me because he’s won the award a couple of times with I think pretty mediocre talent is Kevin Stefanski, but his talent is indeed very mediocre in Atlanta. I think the interesting guys are Minter and Harbaugh from a Baltimore point of view.
PB: What gives Minter a chance to be a Coach of the Year candidate?
BO: You’ve got Lamar Jackson, right? The baseline is also part of it. If the Ravens can make the playoffs, it will stand in contrast to what the Ravens have done more recently, last year in particular. That’s where I think Minter is going to get an advantage in winning that award. If he can do better than the previous guy did last year with essentially the same cast of characters, that will boost Minter’s chances of being seen as a Coach of the Year kind of guy.
It’s going to be about the defense. Can he fix the defense? From a tactical point of view, that’s [fair], but Lamar Jackson can cure a lot of ills. I’m not ripping Jackson here, but if Jackson can avoid getting hurt at key moments in the homestretch of the season, Minter could wind up being the beneficiary of all of that. That’s why I think Minter certainly is a candidate for Coach of the Year. We’ll see where it goes from there. He’s the second chalk. It’s not like you’re getting a lottery ticket there, but I just thought it was interesting that Harbaugh and Minter were Nos. 1 and 2.
PB: Each year, there are a handful of playoff teams that didn’t make it to the postseason the year prior. What team is a candidate for that distinction in 2026 aside from the Chiefs and Ravens?
BO: The New York Giants. I think Harbaugh will, in fact, make a difference there. I think they have done a good job of getting pieces together for their roster. A lot will depend on how well Cam Skattebo can come back. I’m going to put a lot of faith here in [senior offensive assistant] Greg Roman. He has coached a quarterback like Jaxson Dart, and he did pretty darn well by Lamar Jackson. This is going to be a familiar situation for that coaching staff.
That said, I think a lot of other people are looking at the Giants also as a team that did not make the playoffs last year, so what do you think about them this year? They’re like 6-1 to win the NFC East. While you can make a case for any one of those teams winning the division, you can also make a case for the Giants edging all of those guys out with a few breaks, good coaching and Jaxson Dart showing that he’s more mature and can keep himself from getting hurt. You can see the Giants climbing over all those teams, getting into the playoffs and, who the hell knows, maybe win a game in the playoffs.
PB: Any others?
BO: You may think I’m nuts here, but my lottery ticket is the Las Vegas Raiders. I think they’ve got some decent parts there. They’ve got to climb over some teams in the AFC West. Denver is very good. The Chargers are going to always be tough because of Jim Harbaugh. I think Patrick Mahomes has a good chance of being the Comeback Player of the Year, although he played most of last year. I want to stress the Raiders are a lottery ticket. It may not be to win the AFC West, but they might be able to sneak in there as a wild-card team.
Let’s start with the quarterback. From what I have seen superficially of this kid, Fernando Mendoza is far more mature than most No. 1 quarterback picks we’ve seen in the past, for starters. By and large, that roster just feels a little better to me. I wish I could put together a more cogent rationale for that team. I just get the sense that Tom Brady has a lot more to do with that team than anyone is letting on. If that’s going to be the case, I think that that team is going to reflect it. I don’t think they can necessarily win their division, but I like their quarterback situation.
I like the fact that they have a rookie quarterback who has his head screwed on straight. They’ve got a veteran quarterback in Kirk Cousins who seems to be OK with whatever role he has to deal with. If he’s got to come in and play, he’s good. He may not be a Super Bowl quarterback, but he can be a winning quarterback. Ashton Jeanty is quite good. Brock Bowers is all-world. They’ve got a pretty damn good center in Tyler Linderbaum. I’m looking at this team a little like a baseball team. You build your baseball team up the middle.
PB: What Week 1 lines stand out to you?
BO: The Patriots had an extremely soft schedule last year, and they do not have an extremely soft schedule this year. They start out with the Seahawks. We know what the Patriots’ improvement is. It’s called A.J. Brown. The Seahawks are 4.5-point favorites. Only because 4.5 points is a lot of points, I will go with the Patriots in that game, but I think the Seahawks will win the game.
The Rams are only 3.5-point favorites over the 49ers. This is the Rams with Myles Garrett on defense now. I like the Rams to cover 3.5. I think if the Rams can get Brock Purdy back on his heels, they will win this game by a touchdown or better.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox
Originally published June 24, 2026