Julio Jones Traded To Tennessee Titans, Odds Move In The AFC South
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There was big news over the weekend that Julio Jones was indeed being traded. Tennessee has won the sweepstakes and will be pairing him up with A.J. Brown, Ryan Tannehill, and Derrick Henry for an insane group of skill position players. The Titans were sitting below the Colts for winning the AFC South. Will the Jones trade give the Titans a major boost for odds? Oddsmakers did move the needle, but not as much as you’d think for the division, but odds for the Conference and Super Bowl did jump.
Julio Jones To The Titans
Tennessee came into the offseason losing two key pass-catchers from last season, Corey Davis and Jonnu Smith. The NFL Draft was loaded with pass-catching talent, but they addressed other needs instead. It may have caused some frustration to avoid that need in such a talented class, but those who were frustrated had no clue they’d be getting Julio Jones a month or so later.
Jones will join A.J. Brown, who is one of the top young wide receivers in the game, and also Josh Reynolds, who can be a solid 3/4 option in the offense. They drafted Dez Fitzpatrick, who now moves down on the depth chart, but he was a value Day 3 wideout who was expected to have a role early on. The depth looks a lot better than it did a few days ago.
As for the Falcons, the wide receiver depth looks a bit bleak, but having Kyle Pitts and Hayden Hurst makes up for the lack of receiving options at WR. Calvin Ridley will take the WR1 role and has shown he is capable of being the alpha in Atlanta. Russell Gage will move up in the depth chart, but it gets very thin after that.
Odds Changes
Looking at BetMGM’s Insight, there have been some changes to odds across multiple future bets.
Tennessee Titans
Odds to win the division
- Before trade: +110
- After trade: +105
Odds to win the AFC
- Before trade: +2200
- After trade: +1200
Odds to win Super Bowl
- Before trade: +4000
- After trade: +2500
Atlanta Falcons
Odds to win the division
- Before trade: +700
- After trade: +900
Odds to win NFC
- Before trade: +3500
- After trade: +4000
Odds to win Super Bowl
- Before trade: +8000
- After trade: +10000
Analysis
The bigger changes for the Titans are in the AFC and the Super Bowl. They have moved about in line with the Colts for the same odds to win the division. As for Atlanta, they drop in just about every futures bet as expected. They were already long shots to win anything, but this has now been enhanced. Tennessee’s defense is still a question mark, but there is no doubt they are able to win shootout games with this offense.
Atlanta’s under for win totals seems to be the most enticing bet now. Matt Ryan has struggled with Jones off the field, and the defense is still an issue. In that division, Atlanta would have to make a real surprise run to make the playoffs and get them over the win total.