Former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker is RADIO.COM Sports’ NFL Insider, and he’s no stranger to the airwaves on television, radio, or the podcast realm.
On Tuesday, he added a new role to his resume: sports betting guru, specifically as a contributor to “Odds on Sports,” the new sports betting show hosted by John Jastremski and airing weekdays from 6-6:30 p.m. on WFAN.
And right away, Tucker got down to business with “Tuck’s Take,” in this case, some advice for those thinking about laying action on the Giants’ over/under win total of six.
“I’m going over. I think it’s the right number, but I think they’ll beat Washington twice, so out of the other 14 games, you only need them to win four of 14 to at least get a push,” Tucker said. “I think they’re more likely to figure out a way to win seven or eight – they have questions on defense and the offensive line, but I like their ability to at least push with all those skill guys.”
Tucker, of course, used his new platform to talk about the Giants in depth, and that is where he noted the latter question mark listed above might be Big Blue’s biggest weakness.
“Good news and bad news, and most fans already know this: they have an outstanding group of young skill guys. You look at what (Darius) Slayton did last year, they have Sterling Shepard back, a healthy Saquon (Barkley), Evan Engram at tight end, and I really liked a lot of the things I saw from Daniel Jones,” Tucker said. “A lot of teams wish they had the Giants’ skill guys, but the O-line is a concern. I know (Nate) Solder wasn’t great last year, but with him opting out, now you put rookie Andrew Thomas at left tackle, and that really opens up the right tackle spot and makes a lot of guys a question mark.”
A LOT of question marks, apparently.
“I do offensive line rankings, and right guard Kevin Zeitler is the only guy that’s above average – and quite frankly, might be the only one who’s even average,” Tucker said. “(Left guard Will) Hernandez wasn’t as good as I thought he’d be last year, the center is below average…hopefully Thomas can be great right away, but o-line is still a major question mark.”
And, Tucker notes, with spring and summer activities limited ahead of the new season, it might be a rough start for teams like the Giants installing new schemes – a warning bettors might be wise to heed.
“I’ve been saying this whole time that with no OTAs, minicamps, or preseason games, you want to stick with continuity as much as possible when you’re betting. So what does that mean? That means head coaches that are back, quarterbacks that are back, they have the same offensive and defensive coordinators – those are the teams I would lean to, especially early in the season,” he said. “When it comes to missed practice time, if it wasn’t that big a deal, why do you think Tom Brady was having all those players-only practices in June and July, even after the NFLPA said not to? Because it matters.”
The same goes when it comes to fantasy football, or even survivor pools.
“I don’t like a lot of rookies this year for fantasy football or prop bets, and I don’t even love a lot of teams that have new quarterbacks,” Tucker said. “I guess that’s in favor, if we’re gonna talk G-Men, of the Eagles, because Washington, Dallas, and the Giants all have new head coaches and coaching staffs.”
You can hear some of Tucker’s Take in the video above, or check out the entire debut episode of Odds On Sports below!
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