Opening Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds Ahead of 2026 Draft

• Rueben Bain has the top DROY odds entering the 2026 NFL Draft
• Cleveland’s Carson Schwesinger won the 2025 Defensive Rookie of the Year
• Check out the top 25 in Defensive Rookie of the Year odds below

FanDuel has launched its 2026 Defensive Rookie of the Year odds ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. The NFL Draft will begin on Thursday, April 23 at 8:00 pm ET in Pittsburgh. Day 2 (Rounds 2 and 3) will commence at 7:00 pm ET on Friday, April 24. Day 3 (Rounds 4 through 7) will start at noon ET on Saturday, April 25.

Last season, Carson Schwesinger of the Browns won Defensive Rookie of the Year, the first non-Day 1 pick to win the award since 2018. Every Defensive Rookie of the Year since 1988 has been a top-40 pick, with Erik McMillan (63rd pick) being the last exception. In terms of late-round picks, Al Richardson won the 1980 Defensive Rookie of the Year after going in the 8th round (201st overall).

Continue reading for the top 25 Defensive Rookie of the Year odds as well as three value bets – both good value and bad value bets.

Defensive Rookie of the Year Odds

Miami pass rusher Rueben Bain leads the way with +550 odds. A trio of Buckeyes follows Bain in Sonny Styles (+650), Caleb Downs (+650), and Arvell Reese (+700). Cornerback Mansoor Delane rounds out the top five with +1000 odds.

By position, the leaders are edge rusher Bain (+550), linebacker Styles (+650), safety Downs (+650), and cornerback Delane (+1000). No interior defensive lineman is in the top 25 of odds, but Kayden McDonald and Peter Woods could be had for +10000 odds.

All odds are from FanDuel as of Wednesday, April 22 at 6:30 pm ET.

Best DROY Value Picks

Akheem Mesidor, +2200

A six-year collegiate player, Mesidor is the highest-floor pass rusher in the class. Given the slant towards stats-accruing pass rushers in Defensive Rookie of the Year history, Mesidor is the best bet to hit the ground running as a solid player.

In college, Mesidor had 35.5 sacks in 65 games. He led the ACC with 12.5 sacks last season, recording four forced fumbles.

Keionte Scott, +6000

Admittedly, picking a non-edge to win DROY is often a fruitless endeavor, but Scott is the archetype to post gaudy numbers. He is a willing run defender and a tremendous blitzer. In 2025, Scott forced four turnovers, including two pick-sixes. He had 5.0 sacks and 13 tackles for a loss.

Scott played three years at Auburn and one year at Miami. In his collegiate career, he recorded 19 tackles for a loss, 6.0 sacks, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles. In 2025, he tied for the NCAA lead with a pair of pick-sixes.

Cashius Howell, +7500

Similar to Mesidor, Howell is quite experienced. Howell played 56 games across five years, playing three seasons at Bowling Green and two seasons at Texas A&M. Howell led the MAC in sacks in 2023 before transferring to College Station.

An All-American in 2025, Howell won the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He posted 11.5 sacks and 14 tackles for a loss. Howell even deflected six passes, bringing his college total to 15 over five seasons.

Worst DROY Value Picks

Caleb Downs, +650

In the draft process, Downs has often been compared to Derwin James and Kyle Hamilton, two elite safeties who came to the NFL and made immediate impacts. James was named to the All-Pro team as a rookie while Hamilton helped turn a bottom-half defense into the No. 3 scoring defense in the NFL. Neither James nor Hamilton won Defensive Rookie of the Year.

In fact, no safety has won Defensive Rookie of the Year since 1990. This is not a bet against Downs the player – he is perhaps the likeliest player in the entire draft to be an All-Pro – moreso the position that he plays. As good as Downs is, he is also more of the “avoid mistakes” archetype of player than a “playmaker” type. Avoiding mistakes will help Downs’ team win, but it is unlikely to sway voters.

Jermod McCoy, +2500

McCoy missed the entire 2025 season after tearing his ACL in January. While he has the prospect pedigree to still be a first-round pick even after missing a season, it seems logical that McCoy’s NFL team won’t push the rookie off an injury. For a recent example, Shavon Revel missed most of the 2024 season with an ACL injury ahead of being drafted in 2025. He only played seven games for the Cowboys in 2025.

Like Downs, this is not a bet against the prospect, it is a bet against the situation that prospect is in.

Malachi Lawrence, +2700

In four years at UCF, Lawrence was a steady presence more than an elite presence. He had 28 tackles for a loss and 20 sacks. He only finished in the top four in his conference in sacks or tackles for a loss once, finishing fourth in sacks in 2023. Lawrence also forced only three fumbles in 39 collegiate games.

Defensive Rookie of the Year is a numbers award. I am unsure that Lawrence will put up the necessary numbers to be a serious candidate.

Last Five Defensive Rookie of the Year Winners

Carson Schwesinger broke a Defensive Rookie of the Year monopoly with his win as a pure linebacker. Of the last seven awards, pass rushers have won five times. Schwesinger finished in the top 10 in the NFL in total tackles. He also had two interceptions and 2.5 sacks before an above-average Browns defense. Schwesinger won 88.2% of the vote, beating out the likes of Nick Emmanwori, James Pearce, and Xavier Watts.

Jared Verse had a modest sack total, but he generated a gargantuan amount of pressure as a rookie. He took home 36 first-place votes, quadrupling Quinyon Mitchell’s tally. In 2023, Will Anderson won a split vote, narrowly beating Jalen Carter and Kobie Turner despite winning just 16 of 50 first-place votes.

Sauce Gardner, the last cornerback to win DROY, romped to a 46-3-1 win over Aidan Hutchinson and Riq Woolen, securing 96.8% of the voting share. Gardner had two interceptions and an NFL-leading 20 passes defended.

A safety has not won Defensive Rookie of the Year since 1990, when Chicago’s Mark Carrier beat James Francis and Junior Seau to the award. Carrier unbelievably led the NFL with 10 interceptions and five forced fumbles, earning a Pro Bowl nod and a second-team All-Pro selection.

Sign Up for SBD’s Newsletter Now

Did you want the latest sports betting news, analysis, picks, betting trends, and relevant data straight to your inbox? If so, you’ll want to subscribe to SBD’s newsletter now!