Odds for passing and receiving yards

Those who play NFL fantasy football will no doubt be drafting your teams over the next couple of weeks, if you haven’t already.

Inevitably, you will not get all of the players you had hoped for. To make matters worse, most of you will likely be out of contention by about midseason.

To make up for these fantasy failings, you might want to consider taking out a flyer on a player-related futures bet. That way, if your fantasy team flops, you’ll still have a reason to look at individual player stats come December.

Below are futures odds for “most passing yards” and “most rushing yards” this season. Last season, Philip Rivers led the league with the most passing yards (4,710) followed by Peyton Manning (4,700) and Drew Brees (4,620).

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers might be the best value in this category. The reigning Super Bowl MVP finished seventh overall last season with 3,922 yards despite the absence of  Jermichael Finley. The tight end, one of Rodgers’ favorite targets, suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 4.

On the ground, Houston RB Arian Foster led the league last season with 1,616 yards followed by Kansas City RB Jamaal Charles with 1,467 and Atlanta RB Michael Turner with 1,371.

Interestingly, the running backs with the shortest odds to rush for the most yards this year are media darlings Chris Johnson of the Titans and Adrian Peterson of the Vikings. Last season, Johnson finished fourth in the league with 1,364 yards and Peterson, who missed a game, finished sixth with 1,298.

The best value in this category may be Charles, who plays behind mid-talent quarterback Matt Cassel. Last season, Charles had the most yards per carry (6.4) among premier running backs.