By now, it’s no secret that the New York Jets are one of the most talked-about NFL franchises of the football off-season.
In addition to adding Super Bowl-winning and former league MVP Aaron Rodgers to its already talented roster, the Jets added Nathaniel Hackett as its offensive coordinator, extended Quinnen Williams to a four-year contract, and added familiar weapons for Rodgers like Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard.
And they’re still shopping for additional components to finish off the squad. But that’s not all.
The team also agreed to be featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” television series.
How could all of this impact New York Jets betting during the 2023-24 season? Let’s take a look.
What “Hard Knocks” means for New York Jets odds
Of course, adding a QB legend who has won multiple NFL MVP awards and a Super Bowl title is going to help lower the team’s odds in regards to winning its division, conference, and the NFL championship.
This situation is no different.
Before the Rodgers acquisition — on a team led by the troubled Zach Wilson and two lesser-known QBs (Tim Boyle and Chris Streveler) — the Jets’ odds to win an NFL championship in 2023 were +2500.
They’ve since dropped to +1600 on BetMGM NY. The Jets are also at +1000 to win the AFC and +250 to win the AFC East. That’s a highly-contentious division that includes the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots.
If the Jets acquire free-agent running back Dalvin Cook, NY sports betting enthusiasts can likely expect those odds to drop even more.
How past “Hard Knocks” teams have fared
Getting their place in the spotlight on “Hard Knocks” has certainly fared well for the majority of the teams to do so, and the Jets should relish the chance, too. It’s rare for a team on “Hard Knocks” to not have a better season than expected.
Over the 14 years the show has aired, only four of the teams achieved fewer wins than expected by sportsbooks. This includes last year’s Detroit Lions, who finished above .500 last year after opening the season losing 6 of 7 games. The squad ended its season by winning 8 of 10 games.
The Lions went on to easily surpass their expected win total, which was 6.5 games on BetMGM.
Teams featured on “Hard Knocks” also have a proven track record of success in Week 1. While they don’t always win, the vast majority of the teams featured over the last decade have covered the Week 1 spread.
The Jets will have their hands full in Week 1, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. They take on the Buffalo Bills, a squad that has won the AFC East for the last three years and posted double-digit wins each season.
The second “Hard Knocks” go-round for Gang Green
This marks the second time the team is featured on the dramatic storyline-building TV show. “Hard Knocks” follows the team, its players, and coaches through training camp and the build-up to the start of the season, which officially kicks off on September 7.
The franchise first appeared on the HBO and NFL Films show in 2010. That was a high-energy season with lots of storylines built around Rex Ryan’s coaching tenure and a Mark Sanchez-led squad. That team’s season ended in the AFC Championship game at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But there’s even more excitement today, with a talented roster led by four-time NFL MVP Rodgers.
The five-episode series starts on August 8 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and the Max streaming service. Episodes will air on Tuesdays until the finale on Sept. 5, just two days before the start of the season.
What’s in store for the Jets in 2023?
As we have all seen and learned already in other instances in all major sports, it doesn’t always come down to something as simple as adding better players to the roster and replacing weaker, slower, and/or less-talented players with better ones.
Not all teams can be as lucky as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when they added Tom Brady to their roster and won a Super Bowl in its first year together.
There are so many variables involved, which is likely why the Jets are still such a value play at this point in the off-season despite so much to look forward to and feel good about.
All AFC East winners have achieved double-digit wins dating back to the last time the Jets won it — in 2002 — when the squad finished with a 9-7 record. The Jets have also never won an AFC Championship (their Super Bowl victory came before the NFL/AFL merger). But this could be the year that changes.
Stay in tune with the “Hard Knocks” storylines and find those value plays to wager on. Surely, you can find plenty of betting opportunities using the Jets and other relevant teams, given the track record of teams on the show and their recent successes.