Over the last few months, oddsmakers have been split on who the Washington Commanders would take at No. 2 overall in the 2024 NFL draft. Caleb Williams is expected to go No. 1 to the Chicago Bears, leaving Washington to decide between Jayden Daniels (LSU) or Drake Maye (North Carolina).
Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy is an option, too, but not to the level of Maye and Daniels.
For the most part, Daniels has held a slight edge over Maye. However, the odds shifted to Maye earlier this month. In both instances, it was close. Daniels took a big step ahead of Maye last week when ESPN’s Adam Schefter said he thought Commanders fans could order their Daniels jerseys.
On Thursday night, we witnessed yet another significant shift.
Some heavy movement in the #NFLDraft betting markets over the last hour for No. 2 overall pick in favor of Drake Maye.
FanDuel:
Drake Maye (-115)
Jayden Daniels (-115)Bovada:
Jayden Daniels (-140)
Drake Maye (-130)MGM:
Jayden Daniels (-130)
Drake Maye (+100)#HTTC pic.twitter.com/yh5njrJKDU— Jaime Eisner (@JaimeEisner) April 19, 2024
What do we make of the latest shift? Let’s start with his: No one truly knows what Washington general manager Adam Peters thinks. That part is 100% true. Peters isn’t leaking interest to the media, nor are any members of his inner circle.
Some of this comes from Wednesday evening on Twitter. Daniels’ agent liked a pair of tweets that appeared to criticize the Commanders for holding top 30 visits with multiple prospects, including four quarterbacks.
The next day, the agent informs the media that Daniels is meeting the Minnesota Vikings for dinner on Thursday night after previously being hesitant to meet with them.
We are six days away from the NFL draft, and these odds could continue to shift up until next Thursday night. Usually, we learn more about a team’s intentions the closer it gets to the draft, but that doesn’t appear to be the case for the Commanders — so far.
