Steelers among Betting Favorites to Land Pickett, Willis

The betting market thinks the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to take a quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft, as the team is among the betting favorites to draft both Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett and Liberty quarterback Malik Willis, according to odds released Thursday by BetOnline.ag.

The Steelers have 4/1 odds to draft Pickett, which are the fourth-best odds to get the Pitt passer. The Carolina Panthers, which have the No. 6 overall selection have the best odds at 3/2. The Seattle Seahawks, owners of the No. 9 overall pick, are tied for second. They are even with New Orleans, despite the Saints having already signed both Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton this offseason.

After the Steelers, the other favorites to land Pickett are the Atlanta Falcons (5/1), Washington Commanders (14/1), Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans (25/1).

The Steelers have the lowest draft pick of any of that group at No. 20, but are imminently familiar with the talents of Pickett, who played right next door to the team at Pitt.

For Willis, Pittsburgh has the same odds at 4/1, but are higher on the board to land the player. The Steelers are tied with the Panthers at 4/1 to get the Liberty signal-caller, while the Detroit Lions, who have picks No. 2 and No. 32 in the first round, have the best odds.

The Falcons (5/1), Seahawks (6/1), New York Giants (15/2), Texans (10/1), Eagles (14/1), Commanders (18/1), Saints (18/1), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (25/1) are also atop the betting list to land Willis.

Despite ranking the Steelers highly to land him while picking at No. 20, oddsmakers think that it will be Willis to first quarterback off the board. He’s a -240 favorite for that bet, followed by Pickett (+200), Matt Corral (+2000), Sam Howell (+2000) and Desmond Ridder (+5000) round out that list.

The Steelers have also shown interest in the latter three, with head coach Mike Tomlin and general manger Kevin Colbert attending Corral and Ridder’s pro days, and Colbert attending Howell’s.