Welcome to NFL Futures Friday, where every week we'll break down some of our favorite futures bets to build up our portfolio heading into the 2024 season. For this week's edition, let's hone in on two less-targeted awards markets for some fun sweats throughout the year. 

NFL Futures Friday

Dave Canales to win Coach of the Year (+1800 DraftKings)

The Coach of the Year award isn't about which team has the best regular season. It's much more about improving from previous seasons and exceeding expectations, and Canales has a great opportunity to do just that with the Carolina Panthers. 

The Panthers went an abysmal 2-15 last season, but sportsbooks are expecting a bounce back in 2024 considering their win total is set at 5.5. If Canales can lead Carolina to a 7-10 record or better in the worst division in football, that would be a five-game improvement from 2023. The winner of the NFC South might need to win only eight or nine games. If Canales pulls that off, he might be a lock to win Coach of the Year.

Canales resurrected Baker Mayfield's career as the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Who's to say he can't do the same with Bryce Young? Young was hampered by a terrible offensive line and the worst group of wide receivers in the NFL last season. The additions of Dionte Johnson and Xavier Legette, combined with a much better head coach and scheme, should help him immensely. 

Laiatu Latu to win Defensive Rookie of the Year (+550 DK)

When taking on the Defensive Rookie of the Year market, the most important factor is finding a player who will get a ton of playing time in Year 1. Many rookies will play limited snaps and won't be able to rack up the counting stats necessary to win the award, but that won't be the case with Latu.

Samson Ebukam, who led the team in sacks last season with 9.5, suffered a torn Achilles last week and won't be able to play in 2024. That opens the door for Latu, the 15th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft who's extremely athletic and can get to the quarterback in a hurry. Latu will be on the field for a majority of the passing downs for the Colts, so he has a good chance to lead all rookies in sacks. 

In the news ...

Team USA makes late comeback to beat Serbia and make gold-medal game — It didn't look good for a while, but the United States men's basketball team found some late magic to survive Serbia's upset bid in the semifinals of the Paris Olympics. Team USA was down by 13 points after the third quarter, but it outscored the Serbs, 32-15, in the fourth to squeak out a win and make the gold-medal game. Stephen Curry led the way with 32 points on 9-of-14 from three. The Americans will face off against France in the championship game Saturday as 16.5-point favorites. 

CeeDee Lamb-Cowboys drama kicks up a notch — Lamb is holding out from Dallas Cowboys training camp as he seeks a new contract, but it doesn't seem as if there's a solution on the horizon. On Thursday, team owner Jerry Jones told reporters he doesn't "have a sense of urgency" in regard to signing Lamb to a long-term contract. A video of Jones's comments appeared on X, and Lamb promptly commented on the post with a short but sweet, "lol." The Cowboys, who are +155 to win the NFC East, are running out of time to lock up their star WR. 

Noah Lyles withdraws from Paris Olympics after COVID diagnosis — After Lyles won the bronze medal in the men's 200-meter race, the American sprinter left the track in a wheelchair and later revealed he had been diagnosed with COVID. On Thursday, the gold medal winner of the 100-meter dash withdrew from the remainder of the Paris Olympics. Lyles was set to compete in the 4x100-meter relay, but Team USA is still a -450 favorite to win the race. 

Today's Bark Bets is written by Jack Dougherty