National Football League

2024 NFL Draft odds: Who will be the first defensive player selected?

Published Mar. 15, 2024 10:20 a.m. ET

Defense wins championships … but rarely wins the NFL Draft chat room.

While most of the talk around April's draft has to do with which star quarterback will be drafted where, there is also the other side of the ball to consider.

Who will be the first defensive player off the board in Round 1?

RELATED: The top NFL Draft fits

Let's take a look at the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook.

FIRST DEFENSIVE PLAYER SELECTED: *

Dallas Turner, LB, Alabama: -190 (bet $10 to win $15.26 total)
Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo: +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Jared Verse, DE, Florida State: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total)
Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)
Laiatu Latu, DE, UCLA: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Byron Murphy II, DT, Texas: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)

* odds as of 3/14/24

In his latest mock draft alongside FOX Sports NFC North reporter Carmen Vitali, FOX Sports NFL analyst Dave Helman has Turner going eighth to the Falcons, after seven offensive players were selected.

"Now that they don't have to worry about quarterback (for now), how excited would the Falcons be to draft this year's best edge rusher way down here?" Helman writes. "Considering how much talent they already have on offense, this feels like a best-case scenario."

This past season, the 21-year-old Turner was a consensus All-American, a first-team All-SEC performer, and named the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year. He tallied 10 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss.

Helman and Vitali project Arnold to go 13th to the Raiders, followed by Latu to the Colts at No. 15.

"Don't look now, but the Colts may just have one of the better defensive lines in the league," Vitali wrote. "They now have Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner on the inside with Kwity Paye on the edge. If they added Latu to the mix, they could feel great about their front."

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