After coming off a 1-15 season that landed them the first overall pick in this month’s NFL draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars are far from a trendy pick to win Super Bowl LVI. Though the team brought in a new coach in Urban Meyer, addressed several needs in free agency and will likely be adding a franchise quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, this is still a rebuilding project, and a winning season (let alone a playoff berth) is unlikely.
However, the Jags do at least seem to be heading in the right direction, and the same cannot be said for several other teams in the league. In the post-free agency Super Bowl LVI odds from BetMGM, Jacksonville is +12500 to win, giving it the third-worst odds in football.
The two teams below it are the Detroit Lions and its divisional rival, the Houston Texans. Detroit comes in at +15000, and it fully embraced a rebuild earlier this offseason when it traded franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles in exchange for a cornucopia of draft picks. The team also received Jared Goff in the deal, who Vegas feels needs talent around him.
Meanwhile, the Texans have spent the offseason in flux with most of the controversy centered around quarterback Deshaun Watson, who initially requested a trade earlier in the offseason. Afterward, he found himself at the center of numerous civil lawsuits (currently at 21 in total) alleging he engaged in sexual assault and other inappropriate behavior.
It’s unclear what Watson’s status will be for the 2021 season, but it seems the uncertainty around that situation is contributing to Houston’s league-worst +20000 odds to take home the title.
While it’s probably unrealistic that the Jaguars will go from being the worst team to playoff contention in one season, it seems that Vegas doesn’t think they’ll be the worst team again this time around.