Each spring, 32 franchises and their legion of fans use the seven-round NFL Draft as a barometer of their chosen team’s success for the upcoming year, with the results largely being backed up by the way teams play the following year.
So, EmpireStakes.com aimed to see which of the three NFL teams from the state of New York has done best with first-round selections. The results would not surprise New York sportsbooks.
In New York, that success has played out as scripted, with the Buffalo Bills holding the NFL’s fourth-best average when it comes to average approximate value (AV) per draft pick since 2014, at 35.8. Much of that comes from the selection of franchise quarterback Josh Allen in the first round of the 2018 draft. The New York Giants rank 13th leaguewide (28.3 AV per pick) and the New York Jets are 27th, at 22.0 AV per pick.
On the field, Buffalo has posted the NFL’s eighth-best win percentage over that 10-year stretch, at .599, while the Giants (.371) and Jets (.337) are 24th and 25th, respectively.
Utilizing Pro-Football-Reference.com, EmpireStakes.com — your source for NY sportsbook promos — utilized their approximate value statistic to combine the total approximate value of the career of each NFL team’s first-round NFL draft picks from 2014 to 2023. The teams were then ranked on the AV per pick.
NFL Teams AV Total Since 2014
Most New York betting apps have the San Francisco 49ers as the Super Bowl favorite early in 2024.
Leaguewide, the Bills have the NFL’s fourth-best AV per first-round draft pick average since 2014, at 35.8, ranking behind the Los Angeles Rams (71.3 AV per pick), Dallas Cowboys (41.3 AV) and Chicago Bears (36.1 AV).
Conversely, the Jets are just outside the bottom five when it comes to AV average, with their total of 22.0 AV, ranking just ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers, who are tied for 28th at 19.1. The Philadelphia Eagles (18.8 AV per pick), New England Patriots (17.0 AV per pick) and Seattle Seahawks (15.7 AV per pick) are the league’s worst teams at drafting for value since 2014.
When broken down by raw AV totals alone, the Baltimore Ravens (428 AV), Dallas Cowboys (372 AV), Giants (340 AV), Cleveland Browns (337 AV) and New Orleans Saints (336 AV) are the NFL’s leaders, though teams like the Giants had a lot more draft capital (12 picks) than the AV-per-pick leaders like the Rams (four picks), Cowboys (nine picks), Bears (seven picks) and Bills (nine picks).
As of the afternoon of March 13, FanDuel NY, the state’s largest operator, has the Bills’ Super Bowl odds at +1200, fourth-best among the NFL’s 32 teams. The Jets, with the expected return of Aaron Rodgers, are tied for 12th with the Rams and Falcons at +3000. The Giants are way back in the pack at +10000.
