It’s a good time to be a Cleveland Browns fan. The franchise is coming off its third playoff appearance since the team was revived in 1999, and the fanbase can hope there are signs of long-term stability ahead. Backers at Ohio betting sites will keep an eye out too.
Surprisingly, the fans are among the most interested in next week’s NFL Draft. That’s despite the team not owning a first-round pick, which they dealt to Houston to acquire Deshaun Watson before the 2022 season. While the draft starts Thursday, Cleveland won’t hear its name called – barring another trade – until the 54th pick in the second round, which takes place Friday.
Fanbases Most Excited for 2024 NFL Draft
Using Google Trends, BetOhio.com – where we offer the best Ohio sportsbook promo codes – ranked the top 10 most excited NFL fanbases for the upcoming draft. Then, out of a list of players projected to be selected in the first round, we ranked the top five that each team’s fanbase (in this case the Browns) is most frequently searching for. All rankings are based on search interest score compared to other topics.
Browns Fans’ Top 5 Most Anticipated Players
Fans Searching Likely Top Picks
There’s no such thing as a sure bet, but there is no chance that any of the top five players on the Browns fans’ search list are still available come Friday’s second round. All of those players are expected to hear their names called early in the first round.
Maye is considered the best traditional quarterback in this year’s class, meaning he’s more likely to stay in the pocket than look to scramble. He threw for 3,608 yards and 24 touchdowns for North Carolina last season.
Williams is expected to be the top pick overall; Ohio sports betting apps list him as a prohibitive favorite to be drafted No. 1. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner out of Southern Cal will likely be charged with leading the Chicago Bears back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The Bears last had a winning season in 2018 and last won a playoff game in 2011.
Harrison has regional ties as he was Ohio State’s best receiver the past two seasons. He caught 67 passes this past season for 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns and finished fourth in Heisman voting this past season.
Daniels, an LSU quarterback, won the Heisman last season as a dual-threat quarterback. He threw for 3,812 yards, had a 40-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio and ran for 1,134 yards and 10 more scores.
Alt, an offensive tackle at Notre Dame, is expected to be a top-10 pick on Thursday. His next team will hope to find the next Joe Thomas, who was an All-Pro Browns OT for many years. Alt will be expected to anchor some team’s offensive line for the next decade.
What Oddsmakers Say About Browns
If Cleveland fans can’t expect any of those players to come, then what can they expect? According to FanDuel, the total wins for next year’s team has been set at 8.5. Odds are -110 for both over and under that total.
Fanatics Sportsbook has set the Browns Super Bowl odds at +4000, while customers using the BetMGM bonus code Ohio can get odds of +165 on Cleveland to make the playoffs (and -200 to miss).
Caesars Sportsbook gives the Browns odds of +550 to win the AFC North and +2000 to win the AFC.
USA Today photo by Thomas Shea
