NFL player props are side wagers not determined by the final outcome of the game. Commonly, NFL player props have to do with player statistics. When betting them, you’re rooting for the outcome you picked to happen during the game, but the result of an NFL player prop. Week 12 is underway and will feature a full Sunday slate of games with no teams on byes this week. Below, we assess the matchups and make our best NFL player prop predictions from the BetMGM game menus. NFL Week 12 prop bet payday. Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Welcome to SharpSide’s NFL Player Props Strategy Guide. In this article, we will break down what an NFL player prop bet is, what kind of NFL player prop bets you can make, and talk about the general strategy of betting NFL player props. We’ll also provide some resources that will help you become successful at NFL prop betting.
NFL player props are a great way to grind out a sports betting profit because they often present less efficient lines than more standard NFL betting lines, so let’s get into it.
What Is An NFL Player Prop Bet?
If you read the SharpSide guide to betting NFL futures and props, then you’ll know that an NFL prop bet is a type of side bet that is placed on something not determined by the final outcome of a game, such as a specific statistic for a given player. Those prop bets that are then tied to players are referred to as NFL player prop bets or NFL player props.
NFL player props do not affect the outcome of the game. They are individual events within the game that you are betting on. It doesn’t matter who wins or who loses the game, it just matters if an individual player goes over or under the proposed betting line for his prop, or if the player completes the prop in the case of yes/no propositions.
As an example, let’s say Aaron Rodgers has a line set on total passing yards in a game and that line is set at 295.5 passing yards. You must decide if Rodgers will get over or under 295.5 passing yards. If you bet the over, you’re betting on Rodgers getting 296 passing yards or more. If you bet the under in this example, you’re rooting for Rodgers to get 295 yards or fewer. If Rodgers gets 296 passing yards or higher, bettors who wagered on the over would win. If his passing yards come in at 295 yards or fewer, the bet would lose.
Oftentimes, you’ll find the odds on NFL player props to be even on both sides. Sticking with the example we just used involving Rodgers, you might be looking at something such as over 295.5 (-110) and under 295.5 (-110). Both sides of the bet have odds of -110 in this case. Rather than adjust the price of the odds, sportsbooks will change the over/under line in a case like this.
Another example of an NFL player prop comes in the form of a yes/no proposition. For example, will Cam Newton score a rushing touchdown in his game this week? Here, it’s a binary outcome. It’s either going to be yes or no and there is not an over/under line to adjust. This is when you will see oddsmakers adjust the price on each side because they can’t move the line. This line might be something like Yes (+220) and No (-300) and then bookmakers can adjust the odds from there.
Types of NFL Player Prop Bets
In most cases, there are several NFL player props bets available for players of all positions. Quarterbacks, being the most important and popular position on the football field, generally have the most props available. Some of the NFL player props for quarterbacks you might find are passing yards, passing touchdowns, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, completions, and interceptions. The most commonly bet props for quarterbacks are passing yards and touchdowns. You will sometimes see options to bet the over/under on interceptions, and some of these QB player props will be displayed as yes/no propositions.
When betting on running backs, you can pick between rushing yards, receiving yards, both rushing and receiving combined, catches, and touchdowns. Some running backs may not have a prop for all these options, though. The most common bet options would be rushing yards and the yes/no to score a touchdown. Sometimes you will see running backs like Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley get action on both rushing and receiving yards combined, because they are featured so much in the offense.
Wide receiver prop best that are commonly available are receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns. Receiving yards is the most popular NFL player prop for WRs. Some sportsbooks offer more exotic off-the-board props such as “AJ Green to score a touchdown plus Bengals win.”
You can also find player props in the NFL futures market. An NFL futures bet is a wager on a future NFL event. Most commonly, it is a bet placed on the outcome of an NFL event in the current or upcoming season. An NFL future player prop is a bet placed on the outcome of an NFL player prop in the current or upcoming season. These are just like in-game prop bets, but they cover the course of a season. They have over/under bets on passing yards, touchdowns, rushing yards, receiving yards, and more.
There are many different NFL player prop bets available. As sports betting becomes legal and regulated in more and more places, the offering is only going to grow.
Best Nfl Player Prop Bets
NFL Player Props Betting Strategy
When betting NFL player props, we need to have a strategy, a plan of attack. We can’t just look at the board and say things like, “the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a bad secondary, so let’s take Matthew Stafford’s over on passing yards.” One of the first things we can look at is the Vegas total for the game.
In this example, if the Detroit Lions are underdogs and the game has a 60-point over/under total, we can derive that the game script leans towards the Lions playing from behind. If Detroit is losing, they will throw the ball more and this could lead to a better opportunity at the over on passing yards for Stafford hitting.
It’s also important to track betting lines all throughout the season. If you keep track of Stafford’s prop every single week, once the lines are released, you can determine what lines are inefficient based on the old ones and what’s been more of the norm throughout the season. Sometimes lines will be higher or lower than you expect. As sports bettors, it’s our job to determine if the line is off or not. This is how we find value. Things like weather, coaching changes, and injuries can all be factors on how we should handle a prop from week to week.
Nfl Player Props
Those who have experience with fantasy sports, and especially with daily fantasy sports (DFS), will be able to draw a lot of similarities when it comes to researching, analyzing, and picking NFL player props. Even if you don’t have a ton of experience in those two areas, using the same tools and strategy applied by top fantasy football and DFS minds can help.
Specifically, DFS principles easily translate to NFL player props. In DFS, we are projecting what a player’s outcome will be and that is no different in betting NFL player props. There are many resources out there that offer insight, analysis, and projections and using the best projections is important when trying to determine outcomes.
Resources for NFL Player Props
We would suggest starting with all of the amazing sports betting content offered by RotoGrinders. RotoGrinders is the leader in DFS content and is backed by a great community that can make you a better NFL player props bettor. RotoGrinders offers a lot of free content, but you can also subscribe to RotoGrinders Premium for advanced material.
It’s important to use multiple resources and compare them to see how they matchup against the projected Vegas totals. To check the lines, download the free SharpSide sports betting app, available for both iOS and Android, or you can refer to a site such as VegasInsider.com. If you’re seeing inefficient lines, you can take advantage.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you about all of SharpSide’s NFL player pages. These pages are dedicated to each NFL player and showcase recent history of a player’s prop results. Using this information and historical data can help you determine which trends may or may not be working in your favor.
Nfl Player Prop Bets Week 10
News is everything in the NFL. If news drops that a player is out, the lines on the games will first be adjusted because that’s where sportsbooks can and will have the most action. Instead of thinking to bet the Atlanta Falcons when Julio Jones is ruled out or unlikely to play, look to bet Mohamed Sanu over props. Since player props can be limited and less action is taken on them, they sometimes don’t adjust those lines as immediately which can provide us with a ton of value and opportunity to take advantage of inefficient lines.
If the most important thing to track is player news, where can you get it? In today’s sports world, social media is a great tool and can be used to stay up to date on player news from around the NFL. Beat writers covering the league and all of the teams provide outstanding insight that can help give us the edge we need. We recommend subscribing to this list of NFL beat writers on Twitter. Another solid list of NFL beat writers comes from Jeff Haseley and can be found here.
You’ll also want to follow the major NFL media personalities like Adam Schefter, Ian Rapoport, Jeff Darlington, Jason La Canfora, Field Yates, and Stephania Bell, to name a few.
Sometimes a coach will talk about making a change to their lineup. A great example of this was DeSean Jackson in 2018. If you followed the quarterback carousel between the Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick in the 2018 season, you would know that Jackson had his best games with Fitzpatrick. Jackson only cleared 100 yards in three games that season, Fitz quarterbacked for him in all those games. One of the games he was benched for Winston but that didn’t stop Fitzpatrick from putting up 68 of his 124 yards to Jackson.
Another good resources is injury reports. If you track injury reports closely, you can get an idea if a player will be in or out, or if he will be limited in any way. That can help you take advantage of inefficient lines.
Nfl Player Prop Bets 2020
The NFL is a week-to-week league and so many things can change. Getting all the player information and news is key to profiting in player props. If you want to be profitable in betting player props, you must understand how to take advantage of the inefficient lines based on news week to week.
Vegas Nfl Player Props
Remember to check back here for more on how to conquer NFL player props!