- Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett are co-favorites on sportsbooks with (+750) odds apiece to lead the NFL in sacks this season.
- Darius Leonard has the shortest odds (+600) to lead the NFL in tackles in the 2021-2022 season.
LAS VEGAS – Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett lead the odds boards as potential sack leaders while Darius Leonard is expected to lead the NFL in tackles for the second time according to sportsbooks.
However, it won't be easy to tackle such titles this year.
Sack Leader: Donald or Garrett?
Aaron Donald is widely considered the best defensive player in football and has averaged over 12 sacks per season since he entered the NFL. Myles Garrett, while averaging fewer sacks per season than Donald, averages more sacks per game played (0.83).
Online gambling sites list the duo as co-favorites to lead the NFL in sacks in 2021.
NFL 2021-22 – Sack Leader Odds
- Aaron Donald +750
- Myles Garrett +750
- T.J. Watt +800
- Za'Darius Smith +1200
- Danielle Hunter +1200
- Shaquil Barrett +1200
- Joey Bosa +1500
- Josh Allen +1500
- Chandler Jones +1500
- Jason Pierre-Paul +2000
- Nick Bosa +2000
If Garrett can stay healthy, he may have a better shot than Donald, but the reigning sack leader, T.J. Watt, will be looking to defend his title. However, a player hasn’t lead the league in sacks in consecutive years since Reggie White did so in 1987 and 1988.
Those looking to bet on a longshot may be interested in Chandler Jones who is being listed with +1500 odds by sports betting sites.
Jones missed most of the 2020 season due to a season-ending bicep surgery but had rattled off five straight double-digit sack seasons prior to that. In 2019, he had a career-best 19.0 sacks and previously led the league with 17.0 sacks in 2017.
NFL Tackles Leader: Darius Leonard Looking For Second Title
Darius Leonard led the NFL in tackles in his rookie season. It was one of the best rookie seasons of all time by a defensive player.
Now, he’s set to lead the league once again.
NFL 2021/22 - Player Regular Seasons Futures
- Darius Leonard +600
- Blake Martinez +700
- Zach Cunningham +700
- Bobby Wagner +800
- Roquan Smith +900
- Fred Warner +1500
- Eric Kendricks +1600
- Devin White +1600
- Joe Schobert +1800
- Jaylon Smith +2200
- Myles Jack +2500
Projecting tackles is much more difficult than other NFL stats, as so many factors go into it, such as downs played. That is something that depends on the offense’s time of possession which can be based on a game's script and the trail keeps going and going, making it a hard read with so many outside variables to factor in.
Zach Cunningham, last year’s tackle leader, has the second-shortest odds but may want to be looked over - the last time someone led the league in tackles twice in a row was in 1992 when Jessie Tuggle completed three straight years of doing just that.
Anyone who is betting on the NFL and is looking for someone a bit further down the board may side with Roquan Smith.
As Smith enters his fourth year in the NFL, he has tallied 100+ tackles in all three seasons. Plus, he has improved with 139 tackles in 2020 which ranked him sixth in the league despite not being inside the top 20 linebackers for snaps per game.