Houston Texans Follow Oddsmakers, Take Clowney Number One in NFL Draft

Oddsmakers pegged Jadeveon Clowney as the likely first overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and Houston found his talent too great to pass up.

The NFL Draft is the sport’s second-biggest single event after the Superbowl. Fans (including me) tune in to watch hours of draft coverage and analysis, feverishly predicting which players our favorite teams will pick and projecting the next season’s success.

It is also a popular event to bet on sports in America, with many international sportsbooks taking wagers on which players will be picked where. BetFair gave South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney the highest odds of being picked #1 overall at 2/5, followed by Blake Bortles at 4/1 and Johnny Manziel at 7/1.

Houston does things by the book

In line with Betfair’s prediction, the Houston Texans took Clowney with the first overall selection. The defensive star is being touted as one of the best athletes to come into the league in years, and while Houston was targeting a quarterback, his talent was simply too large to pass up.

However, the online and mobile betting site didn’t do so well with many of its other projections, as Manziel slid all the way to #22. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, whom Betfair gave 14/1 odds of being picked first, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the #32 pick.