Today's Top Picks: The three best prop bets for Monday Night Football
Also, watch SportsLine on CBS Sports HQ live at 6 p.m. ET for all today's best bets
Tonight's Monday Night Football game isn't exactly an enticing matchup. It's the 2-4 Steelers hosting the 0-6 Dolphins. Feel the excitement!
Making matters worse is that, even though both teams have been bad, it's not expected to be a close game. The Steelers are 14-point favorites. And it's not supposed to be a high-scoring affair, either, as the total is 43 points. In other words, the game sucks. There's no legitimate reason to watch this nonsense.
That is... unless you have money riding on it.
So let's do that. I'm not a fan of the spread, nor the total, so instead of either side, I have three player prop bets I like for this game. Just to give you a reason to care while watching. Because you're going to watch it. If you weren't, you wouldn't be reading this right now.
All props are via FanDuel.
1. JuJu Smith-Schuster Over 61.5 receiving yards (-112)
If you drafted Schuster in fantasy this season, he has not lived up to expectations based on where you picked him. That's mostly due to the fact Ben Roethlisberger has been hurt all season, saddling him with Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges. Well, Mason Rudolph is returning tonight.
While Schuster hasn't been a top-10 receiver like you drafted him to be, he is averaging 66.6 receiving yards per game in the five games that weren't started by Hodges. That average is skewed a bit by a 4-catch, 15-yard game against Cincinnati. In the other four games, he hasn't had fewer than 75 receiving yards. Tonight, against one of the worst defenses in football, and reunited with Rudolph, JuJu should clear the 61.5-yard barrier.
2. James Conner Over 35.5 receiving yards (-112)
No defense in the NFL is worse at containing running backs in the passing game than the Dolphins. Opposing running backs are averaging 9.9 yards per target against Miami. Not per catch, per target. Using Football Outsiders' DVOA metric, the Dolphins rank last in the league in pass defense against running backs. So whether you want to use traditional stats or advanced metrics, the Dolphins are horrible at this.
Conner will be at full health in this game and he has 231 yards receiving on the season. That breaks down to an average of 38.5 receiving yards per game, and that's including a game against the Ravens when he didn't catch a single pass. Take the over here as well.
3. Preston Williams Over 55.5 receiving yards (-106)
There's not a lot to like about Miami's offense, but it is more potent with Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB than it has been with Josh Rosen. I think Williams is the most likely of Miami's receiving corps to have a big game tonight. DeVante Parker has big-play potential, but he's inefficient. Williams, on the other hand, leads the team in targets and is averaging 62.8 yards per game this season. Williams has also been on the field for a minimum of 83 percent of Miami's offensive plays the previous four games. He's the most reliable option here.
















