2023 NFL Hall of Fame Game Bettor's Guide
It's only the preseason, but it's still football and a betting line has been established for fans' entertainment pleasure.
The New York Jets will kick off the 2023 NFL Preseason against the Cleveland Browns in Thursday night's Hall of Fame Game on NBC and they enter as a slight favorite.
SI Sportsbook lists the Green & White as a 1.5-point favorite over the Browns as of Wednesday morning. Since opening in May, the point spread line moved through zero as the Browns were initially giving 1.5 points.
Money line bettors must lay -125 odds to back the Jets while the Browns offer a +105 return. If you're interested in the scoring total, the over-under currently stands at 33.5 points.
As for prop bets, the menu will likely be limited for this first preseason game. DraftKings has "team to score first" listed as well as team point totals. The Jets are -145 favorites to open the scoring while the Browns offer a +115 payback. Each team's "over-under" is set at 16.5 points.
Last year, the Las Vegas Raiders defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 27-11, in Canton.
Naturally, future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers will sit this one out, but former No. 2 overall draft pick Zach Wilson is expected to engineer Gang Green's "first team" offense. For the Browns, Kellen Mond is expected to start at quarterback.
HOF Game: Jets at Browns
Spread: Jets -1.5
Money Line: Jets -125 • Browns +105
Total: 33.5 over-under
Watch: Aug. 3, 8:00 pm ET on NBC
"We’re really just trying to get the young guys a lot of playing time, see what we got in them, so we’re not anticipating any of our starters playing and a couple of vets for that matter," said Jets' head coach Robert Saleh on July 30. "It’s going to be a lot of young guys running around and trying to showcase their skills and try to make the 53-man roster."
With the starters sitting, don't expect to see any exotic looks from the Wilson-led offense.
"I think anytime you look at preseason for us, you obviously never want to show anything specific," said offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett on Tuesday. "You don’t want to just go out there and kind of put everything out there. We want to give the guys that are going go out there an opportunity to play. We want to keep it simple."
Over the past week, Saleh has named some names as to who will play and who will sit. Listed below are the names specifically mentioned by Saleh.
Players who will participate: QB Zach Wilson, OT Mekhi Becton, DE Will McDonald
Player who will sit: QB Aaron Rodgers, WR Garrett Wilson, LG Laken Tomlinson, RG Alijah Vera-Tucker, C Connor McGovern
Jets' Preseason Games with dates and times — Aug. 3 vs. Browns (8:00 pm ET); Aug. 12 at Panthers (4:00 pm ET); Aug. 19 vs. Buccaneers (7:30 pm ET); Aug. 26 at Giants (6:00 pm ET)
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