Player Prop Preview Week 5
By Richard Gardner
A big reason why people love playing at Bodog’s online sportsbook is our continual innovations in the world of NFL football betting. This year, we’ve spent a lot of hard work and energy beefing up our NFL football player props and, as a result, have seen some pretty large handles throughout the first four weeks.
This past Sunday was no exception. With a variety of in-game and individual player props to choose from, we saw a great amount of action coming in from the betting public. Let’s take a look at a few of the more notable ones from Week 4:
Rashard Mendenhall (Pittsburgh) Total Rushing Yards: OVER 70.5
No surprise that this prop saw at lot of action – the Steelers-Ravens game was one of the weekend’s most heavily-anticipated. For bettors, the big question would be if Mendenhall could continue his turf-chewing ways against the Ravens run defense – Mendenhall came into the contest averaging over 110 yards per game (fourth-best in the NFL) while the Ravens were ranked 20th against the run. At first glance, it might’ve seemed like a no-brainer as unheralded Cleveland RB Peyton Hullis gouged Baltimore for 144 yards last week. But these were the Ravens – mean, nasty, physical – and their games against Pittsburgh always seem to be slug ‘em out affairs.
In the end, the Pittsburgh RB won out – bur barely. Mendenhall had to earn every one of his 79 yards on the day (it took him 25 tough carries), doing just enough to hit the Over. Bettors who took a gamble going against the Ravens run defense got a nice win here, but it certainly wasn’t easy.
Kyle Orton (Denver) Total Passing Yards: OVER 252.5
Hey, three guesses on who the NFL’s leading passer is right now. Did you guess Peyton Manning? Or Tom Brady? Or Drew Brees? If so, then you’d be wrong – the most prolific arm in the game right now belongs to Kyle Orton.
This year has been a real coming-out party for the Denver QB and those wagering in his favor have prospered. His passing yard totals through the first four games are borderline outrageous – 295 against Jacksonville, 307 against Seattle, 476 against Indianapolis (no typo, either – 476!) and 341 this past weekend against Tennessee. As you’ve probably guessed by now, Orton smashed the O/U total and appears to be forcing a shift amongst our oddsmakers. If he can keep this level of play up, there’s no telling how high his NFL prop betting totals will have to go.
Bruce Gradkowski (Oakland) Total Passing Yards: OVER 222.5
Another unheralded QB that’s been doing the business this year, Gradkowski aired it out for 278 yards and two TDs against the Texans on Sunday. Very quietly (although sharps in the betting community have started to pick up on it), Gradkowski is showing off a really good arm – he’s gone over 255 yards in back-to-back games and could be one to watch for future NFL prop bets.