Ricky Dimon
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Football fans, the 2023 NFL Draft is less than a week away. This year’s festivities are taking place in Kansas City, Missouri, so the city of the defending Super Bowl championships should be in for a treat. All NFL Drafts are wild – especially in the first round – and this one projects to be no different. With a number of franchises in need of a quarterback and plenty of stars at that position in this class, you can be sure that trades will be plentiful and chaos will reign. Heck, the #1 overall pick has already been dealt from the Chicago Bears to the Carolina Panthers.
In this article, though, we will be looking at the guys who try to make lives easier for those QBs. Yes, we are talking about offensive linemen and focusing on which one will go first. Let’s start by assessing the odds before taking a look at the best bets to be made.
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2023 NFL Draft odds to be the first offensive lineman drafted
According to the odds, it is mostly a 2-man race to be the first offensive lineman drafted on Thursday night. Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr. is a slight favorite ahead of Northwestern product Peter Skoronski, while no one else has better than +500 odds (Darnell Wright of Tennessee).
Here is the short list of favorites:
Paris Johnson Jr. -150
Peter Skoronski +140
Darnell Wright +500
Broderick Jones +600
Anton Harrison +5000
Dawand Jones +10000
O’Cyrus Torrence +10000
John Michael Schmitz +10000
2023 NFL Draft first offensive lineman drafted prediction: Peter Skoronski (+140)
Peter Skoronski had been the top OL on the big board for some time before arguably being passed by Johnson (it’s not arguable, of course, according to the odds). However, I’m not getting off the Skoronski bandwagon. He allowed a mere 6 QB pressures on 474 pass-blocking snaps in his third and final college season while playing left tackle. The Falcons (#8 pick) could use some help all over their offensive line and they will love Skoronski’s versatility. It’s unclear whether he will play tackle or guard at the next level; it probably depends on which team drafts him. There is a decent chance Skoronski goes at #8, and I don’t see any other offensive lineman being selected prior to that number. Well into plus money, the former Northwestern star has great value.
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2023 NFL Draft first offensive lineman drafted longshot: Darnell Wright (+500)
There are not a whole lot of options here since after the first 4 guys everyone else has basically no chance. That being said, Wright does have at least some value with +500 odds. He did not allow a single sack of Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker last season and he improved his draft stock with a strong Senior Bowl. Wright is one of the best athletes at his position and he also has great size at 6’5’’ and 333 pounds.
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Pickswise is the home of free NFL Picks and NFL Odds. Be sure to check out all of our post-Super Bowl offseason coverage as we gear up for the 2023 campaign.
