San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) is pressured by Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (95) in the second half in Super Bowl LVIII. Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

NFL futures: Season-long sack total bets to make

By Griffin Carroll | Last updated Jun 13, 2024 11:38 AM ET

We've touched on all of the available offensive statistics you can bet on from a season-long view in the NFL futures market, and now we turn to the few defensive stats available to us.

NFL futures: Season-long bets to make

Rushing yards | Receiving TDs | Receiving yards | Passing TDs | Passing yards

While there may not be as many options to us, there are a handful of players worth eyeing in these markets, and we start today with total sacks on the year and a few looks that stand out.

Brian Burns over 8.5 sacks (-120 DraftKings)

Brian Burns heads to the New York Giants this year after five productive seasons with Carolina. The edge-rusher's last four seasons have seen sack totals of 9.0, 9.0, 12.5 and 8.0, and now he'll become the key piece for the Giants pass rush in 2024.

New York should be able to scheme Burns into some easier pass-rushing matchups with Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence also rushing the quarterback.

Thibodeaux logged 11.5 sacks in his second season last year, and with offenses having to respect his game, we like that to simply open up more lanes for Burns to take advantage of. This 8.5 number seems a bit too low for us, so we'll jump on the newly-minted Giants edge having a successful first year in his new home.

Chris Jones under 11.25 sacks (-110 DraftKings)

There's no doubt that Chris Jones is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league, and with Aaron Donald retiring you could quite easily make the argument he is tops in the NFL at his position.

Objectively, however, this season-long sack number is just a touch too high to support on the over. Jones has only once over the past five seasons exceeded this mark, and only twice since he joined the league in 2016.

Now, Jones came close last year with 10.5 sacks, but the under still seems like the play at this juncture. We saw it from the Chiefs a bit last year, but this team has reached the spot where they can mostly just maintain in the regular season and then turn it on in the postseason. The two-time defending champs seem poised for another big season, but we can't help but think that has players like Jones saving themselves for playoff action.

We have to take this under as such.

Griffin Carroll

Griffin Carroll is focused on bringing you the betting numbers that matter. With a focus on the NFL, NHL and NBA, Griffin relies on a data-driven betting approach for prop bets, spread picks and over/unders.

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