NFL Handicapping Articles

NFL Free Agency Grades
by T.O. Whenham - 8/3/2011

This has been a truly crazy NFL free agency period. The short time frame, the strong free agent class, and the desperate needs of a lot of teams have made for some real fireworks. On top of the free agency there have been a stunning number of trades — and not just trades of bit parts. Some of the moves have been particularly impressive, while others have been ridiculously underwhelming and overpraised (I’m looking at you, Donovan McNabb).

NFL Handicapping: Hardest Teams to Judge
by T.O. Whenham - 8/3/2011

When you are handicapping the NFL before the season starts, there are some teams that you feel like you can confidently predict how their season will go. They may be good or they may be lousy, but you feel reasonably sure that their record will fall within a couple of wins of expectations.

NFL Player Props Odds and Predictions: Chad Ochocinco and Plaxico Burress
by Alan Matthews - 8/3/2011

With Santonio Holmes returning to the New York Jets, Braylon Edwards still unsigned (as of this writing), Terrell Owens drawing no interest from anyone and Randy Moss apparently retiring (no chance he’s gone for good – but that’s a prop story for another day), the two biggest-name receivers to change teams so far this offseason have to be Chad Ochocino and Plaxico Burress. I’m not saying they are the two best receivers to change teams – I’d rather have Sidney Rice and Mike Sims-Walker, for example – but they are the two most “famous.”

NFL Predictions: Offensive Player Props
by David Schwab - 8/2/2011

All 32 NFL teams are back to work in preparation for the start of the 2011 regular season. The future odds have been updated after a flurry of player movement to reflect each team’s chances to win its division, conference, and Super Bowl XLVI, as well as projected NFL season win totals.

NFL Teams Well Positioned To Weather Lockout
by T.O. Whenham - 7/29/2011

One complaint of NFL fans is always that despite the salary cap there are ‘have’ teams and ‘have-not’ teams. Some teams seem to be solid every single year, while others never catch a break and become competitive. Even if the bad teams do manage to have a good year they never seem to manage two in a row. There are lots of reasons for that — coaching staff, management, ownership, talent levels, and so on. One major side effect of the lockout this year, though, is going to be that the gap between these two types of teams is going to be wider now than ever.

Most Interesting NFL Preseason Games
by T.O. Whenham - 7/28/2011

‘Interesting’ and ‘NFL Preseason’ are not two things that belong together. I hate pretty much everything about the NFL Preseason — it’s pretty much a total and utter waste of time. As much as I may dislike it, though, it’s not going anywhere. In the spirit of making the best of things, then, here is my attempt to find 10 Preseason games that are at least a little bit interesting in one way or the other:

NFL Predictions: Teams Hurt by the Lockout
by T.O. Whenham - 7/27/2011

This NFL season is a strange new reality thanks to the chaos of the lockout and the ridiculously condensed offseason we are faced with as a result. Free agent would be almost a distant memory by now in most years, but it’s only just begun this year, and teams have to figure out what their needs are and address them in a very short time.

NFL Odds: Will Steelers’ James Harrison be Fined for Comments?
by Alan Matthews - 7/20/2011

The NFL Lockout appears set to end any day now, with the owners potentially set to vote on approving the new collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players’ Association at their meetings on Thursday in Atlanta. It will start about a two-week roster movement frenzy that we have never seen in American team sports history.

NFL Betting Impact of the End of the Lockout
by T.O. Whenham - 7/20/2011

I don’t want to jinx anything, but it finally seems like the NFL Lockout madness is coming to an end, and things are going to return pretty much to normal. Ultimately, in the grand scale of things, the impact of this lockout hasn’t been that significant -- no games lost, a mostly normal training camp and preseason, and the draft and free agency still happened. In the short term, though, there is going to be a pretty significant impact for NFL handicappers, and it is going to take a while to sort it all out.

NFL Odds Released for Top Games of the Year
by David Schwab - 7/19/2011

It appears that the 2011 NFL schedule will come off without a hitch as the league owners and the Players Association remain busy putting the final touches on a new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) that should hopefully end the four-month old player lockout and reopen the NFL for business within the next two weeks.

NFL Free Agency Predictions: Top Players On the Board
by T.O. Whenham - 7/19/2011

I hardly want to say it in case I jinx it, but it seems like we are now just a couple of days away from the end of this NFL Lockout madness. It seemed like this day would never come. Soon after the lockout ends we will be plunging into what could be a crazy free agency period — a short time frame, massive team needs, and some very solid players available. I’m obviously no GM, but if I were these are the eight players that stand out as ones that I would like to have on my team if the money made sense.

NFL Predictions: AFC Division Futures Odds
by David Schwab - 7/13/2011

As the NFL owners and the Players Association continue to inch closer to finalizing the details of a new CBA (collective bargaining agreements), both sides remain optimistic that this whole mess can be resolved in enough time to avoid disruption of the start of summer training camps and the preseason NFL schedule.

NFL Odds: NFC Division Futures Betting
by David Schwab - 7/12/2011

There is still no new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) in place between the NFL owners and the Players Association, but optimism runs high that a deal can be worked out in enough time to avoid any disruption of the start of summer training camps and the preseason NFL schedule.

2011 NFL Schedule: Top 10 Divisional Games
by Robert Ferringo - 7/8/2011

To this point, the 2011 NFL schedule is still intact. And if the rumors coming out of the current labor talks are true then the odds of an abbreviated schedule this season are pretty slim. That is great news for fans and NFL bettors alike and it means that we can start to turn our attention from salary floors and wage scales to rivalry games and divisional clashes.

NFL Handicapping: Impact of Lockout on Pro Football Betting
by T.O. Whenham - 6/24/2011

I certainly don’t want to jinx anything, and things are still tenuous right up until the signing of the new CBA, but it certainly seems like the NFL and the players are moving towards a resolution to this lockout. Really, it seems like both sides came to their senses. The owners realized that they make way too much money from the ridiculous preseason to risk missing it, while the players realize that getting paid is a lot better than not getting paid.

2011 NFL Free Agent Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 6/20/2011

The current labor situation in the NFL is a debacle (brought to you by 32 sadistic and sociopathic owners).But to me the lockout is simply an annoyance; in the end, a deal will eventually be reached and football will resume. When that will happen and how many games will this season entail are the parlor game-type questions open to rampant speculation. But a deal will be reached, most likely there will be between 8-16 games played, and the sport will not be altered all that much.

NFL Predictions: Teams Hurt Most by Lockout
by Robert Ferringo - 6/15/2011

“Silent Spring”, by Rachel Carson, is one of the most influential books in American literature. The book, which documented the detrimental effects of Big Business – specifically the chemical industry and pesticide producers – on the environment, particularly birds, is credited with helping to launch the environmental movement. The premise of the book was that uncontrolled pesticide use was killing animals and birds and could lead to a spring season where no birds could be heard because they had all vanished.

CFL Grey Cup Futures Odds and Season Preview
by David Schwab - 6/6/2011

The start of the 2011 NFL season is still up in the air due to the ongoing labor dispute between the league owners and its players, but our neighbors to the north in the CFL are busy gearing up for another season that kicks off on Wednesday, June 15, with the first preseason game off the year. Bodog has released the futures odds for each team’s chances to hoist this year’s Grey Cup as the league champion.

NFL Odds and Predictions: Offensive Rookie of the Year Props
by Alan Matthews - 5/19/2011

Recently here at Doc’s we previewed the upcoming 2011 NFL class of defensive rookies and the odds to win Defensive Rookie of the Year – you know, assuming there is an NFL season. Today let’s look at the Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, courtesy of WagerWeb.

NFL Handicapping Impact of Lockout
by T.O. Whenham - 5/13/2011

There is going to be an NFL season this year. It will likely even start when it is supposed to. I don’t base this on any inside knowledge — just time spent watching and analyzing what has been going on. I’m no labor lawyer, and I am so sick of this whole mess, but I just don’t see this thing dragging out as long as both sides are currently willing to say it will. I can’t find any of the major sportsbooks currently offering odds on if the season will start on time, but if they did I suspect that the yes would be solidly — and justifiably — favored. There are five good reasons I think so: