Every August brings back the thrill of the NFL season as training camps and preseason football get into full swing.
The NFL’s preseason allows players to get back into game form, teams to sort out their roster, and fans to catch a preliminary glimpse at their team. It also offers NFL bettors to win some serious money on the exhibition football games.
Betting on preseason football can bring an added aspect of interest to games that often lack the level of excitement most NFL games provide.
The unique nature of the NFL preseason makes NFL preseason betting a fantastic way to make a profit and better enjoy the games.
NFL Training Camp
Before preseason games begin, NFL teams open their training camps in late July. Teams often host these at locations near their traditional team facilities and have players stay in hotels or dormitories for the early stages of the cam. The start of training camp often places more of an emphasis on conditioning, fundamentals, and positional drill before teams begin game prep for the preseason games.
NFL Preseason Purpose
Training camps and preseason football are used as both an evaluation tool and as a way for preparing teams for actual gameplay. The performances of players in training camp and preseason are used to decide who will make the final 53 man roster and who will be looking for work when the regular season rolls around. Ninety hopeful players come into camp, many of them as undrafted longshots.
These players undergo grueling weeks of practice and multiple rounds of excruciating roster cuts. Based on performances in the preseason and training camp every year, teams determine what young players can play in the NFL and which veterans have passed their prime. In addition to rounding out the roster, performances in training camp and preseason play will determine several starting positions for each team and how the depth chart is organized.
A strong performance from a player in August often results in a larger role in the regular season. These positional battles are crucial to fielding the best players on the field, as many NFL teams don’t even have their quarterback determined going into camp. Keeping a close eye on these competitions can help bettors understand just how good a player or team really is, making for smarter bets early in the regular season. August is also a time for coaching staffs to install new concepts and try to eliminate mental errors.
NFL Preseason Football Games
NFL preseason games are without any actual consequence; the results are meaningless in how the NFL’s season actually plays out. That does not, however, mean that NFL teams don’t value them. With many players fighting for their jobs and coaches anxious to see strong performances, preseason games are highly competitive.
Each NFL team has four preseason games (two home and two away), with the addition of the Hall of Fame Game for two NFL teams. Teams typically avoid scheduling opponents from within their division or who they will face during the regular season, and these opponents are often similar from year to year. NFL teams try to get a look at all the healthy players on their roster, allowing the first string to start the game, before systematically putting backups in.
Thus, the team’s lowest string of players usually ends up finishing the game. Starters tend to get an increasing amount of playing time from games one through three, and are mostly rested in the fourth and final preseason game of the season. The third game often features starters for the entire first half and possibly into the third quarter.
NFL Preseason Betting
Because the NFL preseason is approached differently than the regular or postseason, it also has to be approached differently by NFL bettors. Football bettors can actually find a way to make safer and smarter bets in the preseason.
For preseason games, a larger emphasis should be put on the coaching staff. A team’s coaches will remain consistent for four quarters while the players alternate. It is also not enough to know the stars of a team; preseason betting is largely dependent on depth. Knowing how long players are going to be on the field for is also crucial in the preseason, so keeping on top of a team’s press clippings is important. Our Daily Betting Tips will have all the necessary information and advice for making money on the NFL preseason.