Welcome, Bruno Boys Nation to the Week 4 of the 2023 NFL Season! Along with the variety of fantasy football formats, we cover Player Prop bets. So in case you just want some quick action for the weekend, Ernie Estrella is tackling Player Prop betting during the season. He will break down a favorable matchup and select a handful of bets for five players at quarterback, running back and wide receivers / tight ends, based on how he sees the game script going.
Week 4 Quarterbacks
Kirk Cousins will throw OVER 279.5 yards (-110 FanDuel) against the Panthers.
Start Time: Sunday, October 1, Bank of America Stadium, 1:00pm ET
Broadcast: FOX Sports / FOX NOW / NFL+
One of the safest bets this season is to go heavy on Cousins’ passing yardage. To open the 2023 season, Cousins has thrown for 344, 364, and 367 yards respectively. And they’re still 0-3. Last week they finally got the run game going with Alexander Mattison last week but that was also against the Chargers and their porous defense. By and large, Cousins is the main cog in the Vikings offense. Mattison is not much more than a plodder and the acquisition of Cam Akers tells us that they don’t full trust him to be the center of the offense.
So for now, Captain Kirk has to heave it, to win it. Cousins needing to throw as much as he has is also an indictment about the Vikings defense, which hasn’t been very good either. Even if the Vikings score points, they cannot let up given their defense allowing 27.3 points per game. Cousins needs to generate at least four touchdowns to give them a chance. They have 49 passing first downs to just nine rushing first downs. There’s no way around it, this is a pass-friendly offense.
He’ll face the Panthers at Carolina in Week 4, where they’ve been good at containing fantasy quarterbacks. They’ve allowed just two passing touchdowns all season, but they haven’t faced a QB like Cousins, who has nine touchdowns to just two picks. With respect to the Panthers defense, getting touchdowns could be challenging, so we won’t touch that prop. But with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson, can you really blame Cousins for throwing a minimum of 44 passes per game? That’s why we like the over on Cousins passing yards.
