Tag Archives: nfl draft

VKTRY Insoles Worn By Record 74 Selections In 2021 NFL Draft

VKTRY GEAR, the fast growing, industry leader in Performance Insoles, today announced that a record number of 74 NFL Draftees, 33 in the first three rounds, wore their carbon fiber insoles as a key part of their prep for the Draft. Included on that list are players from almost every position, including first rounders: Florida TE Kyle Pitts (fourth by the Atlanta Falcons), Northwestern OL Rashawn Slater (13th by the LA Chargers), Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins (16th by the Arizona Cardinals), Miami DE Jaelen Phillips (18th by the Miami Dolphins), and Alabama Running Back Najee Harris (24th by the Pittsburgh Steelers). Only Quinnen Williams of the New York Jets (third in 2019) was a higher draft pick to use VKTRY Gear in the history of the company.

“The world’s best athletes are discovering the increased performance benefits and the injury protection that our carbon fiber insoles provide, and that was very clear in this year’s NFL Draft,” said VKTRY CEO Steve Wasik. “Every day we get more requests from athletes for our insoles, none more than in the NFL, be it in this next generation of stars or in the growing number of veterans who are making VKs ‘Must Haves’ when they take the field.”

“We’re always told by our coaches that you’re only as strong as your foundation… it all starts with your feet and VKs give me the ability to explode forward and absorb force,” said Rashawn Slater. ”The energy return is the biggest thing… you can feel it. VKs feel way different than a normal insole and they help me reduce the risk of injury and that means everything.”

“Once you become accustomed to the feeling of VKTRY Insoles, it helps to elevate your game. From a lower body standpoint, the explosiveness with VKs is crazy,” added Zaven Collins. “The only time I wasn’t wearing them was when I was sleeping. That subconscious thought helps you play at least 1% faster or 1% better, which is a giant gain in the league.”

“VKTRY Insoles made me a lot more explosive,” said running back Javonte Williams, who the Denver Broncos traded up to take with the 35th pick from the University of North Carolina. “In the past when I didn’t have them I would have to stop or slow down because my feet started hurting. With the VKTRY Insoles I can keep going all day.”

During the 2020 NFL season, a record number of over 200 NFL players, from 29 of 32 clubs, wore VKTRY’S carbon fiber insoles, a 300% increase from 2019. Some of the brightest young stars and respected veterans in the NFL, including Cleveland Browns RB Nick Chubb, LV Raiders RB Josh Jacobs, Washington RB Antonio Gibson, Buffalo Bills RB Devin Singletary, SF 49ers WR “Deebo” Samuel, Seattle Seahawks WR DK Metcalf, NY Jets Williams, Buffalo Bills CB Josh Norman, Chicago Bears WR Anthony Miller, LA Chargers OT Brian Bulaga, Denver Broncos TE Noah Fant, New York Giants TE Evan Engram, Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson, Pittsburgh Steelers LB Devin Bush and many more are now part of the VKTRY using team. Players from every Power Five Conference used VKs for the first time during their Pro Days.

Made from aerospace-grade carbon fiber, VKTRY Insoles store and return energy to the athlete. They also provide a “spring-like” effect to improve shock absorption and reduce the load and stress on the athlete’s body. In independent performance testing, athletes wearing VKs increased their broad jump by an average of +4.0”, their vert by +1.6” and improved their 40 times by 0.12 seconds.

VKTRY Insoles are available in five different levels of flexibility to optimize performance, protection and comfort. Athletes at more than 300 professional and college teams wear VKTRY Insoles for training and competition. A recent study of 263 NCAA athletes showed 41% less foot injuries and 22% less lower leg injuries when athletes use VKs.

VKTRY Insoles were originally invented for the US Olympic Bobsled Team to improve athletic explosiveness. In 2010, these carbon fiber insoles helped Team USA win gold in the 4-man bobsled – first time in 62 years. Now, more and more people are discovering the benefits of energy return, improved stability and the shock absorption that VKs provide.

Topps To Create Special Box Set Featuring College Football Superstar Trevor Lawrence In Partnership

Having just completed one of the most decorated careers in college football history and weeks away from the likely No. 1 selection in the pro draft, Trevor Lawrencehas signed on with Topps in a landmark deal that will see the winningest starting quarterback in Clemson history featured in an exclusive box set of cards scheduled for release in April. The set will be created in collaboration with Trevor’s brother and sister-in-law Chase and Brooke Lawrence, professional artists who will create exclusive artwork of the decorated 2018 national champion and first quarterback ever to win three ACC Championship Games.

The series will include 50 cards, including autographs on select pieces and will feature a mix of oil paintings and digital depictions crafted by Chase and Brooke (https://bclawrence.art). To create the exclusive artwork, Chase and Brooke took inspiration from psychedelic period pieces from the 1960’s-70’s as well as classic comic book and graphic novel illustrations.

“Trevor Lawrence is one of the most popular and visible players in college football in years and we can’t wait to capture his talent and personality in this set,” said Jeff Heckman, Global Director of Ecommerce. “We look forward to revealing the unique designs that Chase and Brooke will develop, and we think football fans across the country will love the series.”

“I’m excited to be working with Topps on this really unique set,” said Lawrence. “Chase and Brooke are extremely talented artists and it’s special to collaborate with them on these custom designs.”

Lawrence completed 231 of 234 passes (69.2%) for 3153 yards and 24 touchdowns this past year, finishing second in the Heisman Trophy balloting as he led Clemson to the national championship game. In his storied three-year career, he completed 758-of-1138 career passes (66.6 %) for 10,098 yards with 90 touchdowns and 17 interceptions for a pass efficiency rating for 164.26 in 2,237 snaps over 40 career games (36 starts).

PlaySugarHouse.com New Jersey Hits Record Numbers for NFL Draft Round One

The NFL Draft Round One produced record-setting handle for PlaySugarHouse.com in New Jersey and a plethora of first-round surprises. Here are some highlights:

Both handle and bet counts are already triple last year’s numbers for the full draft even though we are only a day into the 3 day event.

76% of all sports betting handle yesterday at PlaySugarHouse.com in New Jersey was bet on the NFL. The overwhelming majority was wagered on the draft, although there was some betting on futures and non-draft props.

The largest bet of the day was a nearly $5000 bet on the first wide receiver being drafted to be CeeDee Lamb of Oklahoma. In fact, Lamb to be the first receiver taken was the most popular bet of the entire night. He was third behind Alabama wide receivers Henry Ruggs and Jerry Jeudy. Ruggs was taken as the 12th overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders and was a first-round surprise. Jeudy was selected 15th, by the Denver Broncos, and Lamb was taken 17th, by the Dallas Cowboys. Ruggs had the fastest time of any player in the NFL Combine. Ruggs returned +400 as the first receiver taken and combined with Jeudy and Lamb to pay bettors +650 in a unique trifecta wager. It required the bettor to select the top three receivers taken, in exact order.

The New York Giants produced the first-and largest first-round betting surprise by taking offensive tackle Andrew Thomas of Georgia as the fourth pick. He was +1000. The Giants had been expected to take either Tristan Wirfs of Iowa or Isaiah Simmons from Clemson in that spot. Both Wirfs and Simmons had been showcased in wagers to be drafted in the Top 5 overall.

Another popular prop was Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama to be the second quarterback drafted. The majority of players won on this bet. After LSU quarterback Joe Burrow was the first player selected in the draft, Tagovailoa was taken fifth by the Miami Dolphins. This also rewarded bettors who pegged him to be taken by Miami.

Another highly-popular prop was how many wide receivers were drafted in the first round. The bet was over-under 5.5. The over won as there were 6.

One bet receiving strong play was over 0.5 running backs to be taken in the first round. This bet won on the final pick in the first round with Clyde Edwards-Helaire going to the Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

Offensive linemen were quite popular in round 1. The over/under opened at 5.5, but moved to 6.5 close to draft night, with the line closing at 6.5 over -200. There were seven linemen drafted, rewarding the over bettors.

Still open: Cole Kmet of Notre Dame to be the first tight end taken is one of the 10 most popular bets PlaySugarHouse.com received, and with no tight ends off the board in the first round, this bet is still open and available to be bet.

Xavier McKinney from Alabama was the most bet safety to be the first to come off the board. With no safeties drafted in the first round, this bet is also still open.

“This was an outstanding opening night for the NFL draft,” said Mattias Stetz, C.O.O of Rush Street Interactive, which operates PlaySugarHouse.com. “We are delighted with the strong wagering action and how bettors supported many imaginative prop bets. They really prepared well for the draft and they weren’t afraid to bet heavily on some long shots.”

BetMGM Launches Pro Football $2,000 Draft Contest

With the NFL Draft days away, marking just about the only live sports-related event going on these days, all eyes will be on the virtual selections by the 32 franchises beginning Thursday night.

BetMGM is making it a little more interesting, launching the free-to-play $2,000 Pro Football Draft Contest, a series of 20 questions predicting certain outcomes of the draft, and the player who guesses the most questions correctly will win a grand prize of $2,000 cash. In the event of a tie, the prize earnings will be split evenly.

Questions include:

· Which team will draft the first QB?
· How many teams will trade down (trade back) in the first round of the draft?
· Will the New England Patriots draft a quarterback in the first two rounds?
· Which running back will be drafted first?
· Which conference will Jake Fromm (UGA) get drafted to?
· How many players from the University of Alabama will get drafted?
· What position will Mr. Irrelevant be? (Last player to be drafted in the 2020 Draft)

Registration is open to residents of New Jersey, West Virginia and Indiana only. Sign up at https://promo.nj.betmgm.com/en/promo/s/p/sports/draft-quiz.