Will Anderson Gaining Ground on Jalen Carter in NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Race

Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter has been the odds-on favorite for weeks to win Defensive Rookie of the Year.

But Will Anderson is starting to come on strong.

Anderson, the first defensive player selected in the draft, had odds of +1000 to win Defensive Rookie of the Year last week and those have now been slashed to +300 at Caesars.

Anderson had five sacks, four quarterback hits and a pass deflection in a win over the Broncos, as the Texans are the most surprising team in the NFL this season.

It is basically a three-way race to win the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, and these are the odds, courtesy of Caesars on December 5th:

• Jalen Carter -175
• Will Anderson +300
• Devon Witherspoon +300

Anderson has five sacks on the season, 17 quarterback hits and eight tackles for loss.

The advanced stats love him, as Anderson is No. 1 in run-stop win rate among NFL edge rushers and No. 5 in pass-rush win rate. He trails only Micah Parsons, Myles Garrett, Brian Burns and Bradley Chubb in pass-rush win rate.

The Texans could have both the Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year if Anderson can continue his push and claim the hardware.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud is a shoo-in to win it on the other side of the ball, with -10000 odds to be the Offensive Rookie of the Year at Caesars sportsbook.

Even though Anderson is surging, Carter has been great as well this season, with four sacks, two forced fumbles and seven quarterback hits on the year. He is fourth in pass-rush win rate among defensive tackles.

Witherspoon has 65 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble, a pick-six and 15 passes defensed for the Seahawks.

Witherspoon was the second defensive player taken in the draft and Carter was the fourth, behind the other two Defensive Rookie of the Year contenders and Tyree Wilson.

Here is a look at the list of longshot candidates to win Defensive Rookie of the Year:

• Brian Branch +2500
• Byron Young +6000
• Joey Porter, Jr. +6000
• Tuli Tuipulotu +6000
• Nolan Smith +8000
• Keion White +8000
• Will McDonald IV +8000
• Derick Hall +10000
• Calijah Kancey +10000
• Bryan Bresee +10000
• Tyrique Stevenson +10000
• B.J. Ojulari +10000
• DJ Johnson +10000
• Lukas Van Ness +10000
• DJ Turner +10000
• Nick Herbig +10000
• Myles Murphy +10000
• Tyree Wilson +10000
• Ivan Pace, Jr. +10000
• Deonte Banks +10000
• Julius Brents +10000
• Jack Campbell +10000
• Isaiah Foskey +10000
• Emmanuel Forbes +10000
• Mazi Smith +10000
• Felix Anudike-Uzomah +10000