The 2026 NFL Draft was an understated affair by league standards, but franchises in search of brighter futures found players to hitch their hopes to. The early Rookie of the Year odds unsurprisingly favor the biggest names, but not the first pick.

No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza will be the most compelling narrative early on. He’s a rookie quarterback being mentored by Tom Brady, but also shackled to the Las Vegas Raiders. The early Offensive Rookie of the Year odds show a wide-open race among the draft’s top playmakers.

The last seven OROY winners have been quarterbacks or wide receivers, but oddsmakers have running back Jeremiyah Love, drafted third by Arizona, as the frontrunner. Love, who is the highest-drafted back since Saquon Barkley in 2018, is posted between +200 and +300 at most sportsbooks, ahead of Mendoza’s +300 to +400 range.

It makes sense given that running backs tend to transition from college to the pros a bit faster than other skill positions, and Love has the advantage of getting an immediate opportunity to play on an already-competitive team. Mendoza, for all his accomplishments, faces a steeper learning curve with a much worse supporting cast, so Love’s early lead isn’t surprising.

Barkley went on to win OROY in 2018, so whether or not pundits feel picking Love at No. 3 was a reach, the last time a team went for a back that early, they got an immediate return on their investment.

After Love and Mendoza, receivers Carnell Tate (drafted fourth by the Tennessee Titans) and Jordyn Tyson (drafted eighth by the New Orleans Saints) are the next best bets. Currently, oddsmakers favor Tate, but the difference is small across the major sportsbooks (Tate’s best odds are +400 at DraftKings, which has Tyson at +500). Both landed on teams with inexperienced quarterbacks, but their offenses have nowhere to go but up, and receivers tend to get a healthy share of credit for young quarterbacks making a leap.

Neither Tate nor Tyson was drafted into ideal situations, but of the two, Tate seems to have the more dynamic passer in Cam Ward. Tennessee hired former Giants head coach Brian Daboll as its offensive coordinator, whose credits include working with Josh Allen and Daniel Jones. If Daboll can improve Ward’s consistency, Tate could be a major beneficiary.

In New Orleans, Tyson will have Tyler Shough under center and Chris Olave as target competition. The former Arizona State star is a dynamic pass-catcher, but whether Shough and the Saints can provide enough fuel to get him off the ground is a real concern. He’s still in the conversation, but he could slip quickly if his quarterback doesn’t turn heads early.

Running back Jadarian Price and wide receiver Makai Lemon round out the rest of the early contenders, thanks in large part to them walking out of the draft and onto Super Bowl contenders. Price (+750 at DK, +1100 at FanDuel) is set up for success better than just about any rookie in the class after being drafted by the Seahawks as the final first-round pick. Not only is Seattle fresh off a Super Bowl win, but their MVP-winner from that game, running back Kenneth Walker III, signed with Kansas City this offseason. The next man on the depth chart, Zach Charbonnet, tore his ACL. That leaves Price a wide-open path to get steady work for an elite team, a dream combination in a Rookie of the Year chase.

Lemon, USC’s star pass catcher last season, had the strangest draft night of any first-rounder. With the Cowboys on the clock at pick No. 20, the Pittsburgh Steelers called Lemon to inform him they’d be picking him at No. 21. While that call was taking place, the Philadelphia Eagles made a trade with the Cowboys to get the 20th pick and snatched Lemon for themselves, leading to the new rookie getting calls from two teams at once, both telling him he was going to be playing for them.

Lemon is marked behind Price at DraftKings (+900), but is actually slightly ahead of him at other books, thanks to walking into nearly as good a setup as Seattle. The Eagles are top contenders, and with A.J. Brown expected to be traded before June 1, Lemon could immediately slide into second chair behind DeVonta Smith.

Given that the rookie drew many Smith comparisons heading into the draft, and the fact that Smith has had tremendous success with the Eagles thus far, the fit is nearly perfect. Concerns about the Eagles’ offense last year may scare some bettors off (their passing game in particular seemed discombobulated), but Lemon’s odds could get a further boost once Brown is officially dealt.

On the defensive side, David Bailey is the favorite on DraftKings at +450. Sonny Styles, Rueben Bain Jr., Arvell Reese and Caleb Downs are next in the odds. Those five were all drafted in the top 11 picks, but last year’s Defensive Rookie of the Year winner, Carson Schwesinger, was a second-round pick.