Anthony Gordon NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds & Analysis

Anthony Gordon put up huge numbers last year playing quarterback at Washington State, yet he didn’t even get drafted. However, the Seattle Seahawks signed him as an undrafted free agent. Here are Gordon’s odds at Mybookie to win 2020 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year as well as the Seahawks’ over/under win total.

Odds to win Offensive Rookie of the Year: +12500
Seahawks’ win total: 5 (under -120 favorite)

Gordon put up huge numbers in high school in California but wasn’t highly recruited so he went to City College of San Francisco for one year, where he completed 286 of 439 passes for 3,864 yards and 37 touchdowns. That drew the interest of Washington State coach Mike Leach and Gordon headed there. He redshirted his first year in 2016 and did not play in any games in 2017. In 2018, he served as the backup to Gardner Minshew. Last year, Gordon started all 13 games and was named second-team All-Pac-12 and a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, given to the nation’s best QB. He led the nation in passing yards per game (429.2), 300-yard games (12), 400-yard games (9) and second in passing TD (48) and passing yards (5,579). Gordon finished 493-of-687 for 5,579 yards and 48 touchdowns. He was fourth in the country in completion percentage (71.8) and set WSU and Pac-12 single-season records for passing TD, passing yards, total offense (5,559) and completions (493). He had 3 of the top-4 single-game passing performances in the country (1st – 606 vs. Oregon State, 2nd – 570 vs UCLA, 4th – 520 vs. Stanford) and led the country with 222 completions of 10+ yards. Of Gordon’s 48 passing TD, 16 went for 20+ yards. His nine touchdowns in a wild game vs. UCLA was a WSU and Pac-12 Conference single-game record. According to Pro Football Focus, Gordon was the most accurate QB on throws delivered on 2.5 seconds or less. Gordon posted an 82.2 completion percentage on those plays. He edged out Joe Burrow’s 81.1 completion percentage and Kedon Slovis’ 80.8 percent mark. A huge credit to his success in the Air Raid offense is how quickly he’s able to get rid of the ball. As soon as targets flash into his vision, he’s shown to be capable of getting the ball to them immediately. Gordon seems to always remain in control of his body as his eyes remain downfield amid all of the chaos. There’s never a sense of panic. So why wasn’t Gordon drafted? From a numbers standpoint, his 2019 production measured up with any of the other quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft. The problem for Gordon is that was pretty much the extent of his resume and he did this in an extremely pass-happy offense. Gordon’s small frame is worrisome. He weighs in at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds and will have to deal with some big hits at the pro level. He doesn’t need to be an elite scrambler, but the -51 rushing yards he recorded last season weren’t encouraging. The biggest concern on Gordon is his penchant for throwing bad passes into coverage. He had 16 interceptions last season. It’s possible that Gordon could serve as Russell Wilson’s backup this year as the only other QB on the roster is journeyman Geno Smith. Although, coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider have opted for a primary backup that has NFL starting experience in each of the last three seasons: Austin Davis in 2017, Brett Hundley in 2018 and Smith last year. Also, Wilson has yet to miss an in-season practice let alone a game in his eight seasons. The perception used to be that Air Raid quarterbacks couldn’t succeed in the NFL but that’s changing with the successes of guys like Patrick Mahomes, Minshew, Nick Foles and Jared Goff. The past three Super Bowls have all featured a quarterback from Air Raid systems in college: Mahomes, Golf and Foles. Probably not wise to bet Gordon on this prop considering how durable Wilson has been, but on the other hand if Wilson were to get hurt in training camp this could be great value.