3 NFL Player Prop Bets for Thursday Night Football: Week 7

Player props can be useful in a variety of ways, from taking advantage of them straight up within the betting market to measuring a player's potential to produce in daily fantasy football.

Here we'll focus on utilizing our projections and a slew of other tools and simulations to help make money betting player props. For this article, we are using the odds provided at FanDuel Sportsbook to pinpoint spots where value can be had this week.

The prop-betting experience on FanDuel Sportsbook is getting even more fun. You can track your player props with real-time updates and place in-game props with ease.

Each and every week I'll be bringing separate prop bets articles for Monday Night Football, Thursday Night Football, and the Sunday main slate.

Note: Betting lines and our player projections may change after this article is published.

Alvin Kamara Any Time Touchdown (+105)

Week 7 kicks off with Thursday Night Football where the Arizona Cardinals are hosting the New Orleans Saints.

A modest 43.5-point over/under is where we see tonight's game fall, but we are turning to the player props tonight. While we don't have final confirmation on who will be the starting quarterback for the Saints, we should look to one of the more consistent options in their offense in Alvin Kamara.

Kamara has played in four games this season and is averaging 20.75 touches per game. Kamara has always played a strong role in both the rushing and receiving game, with this season proving to be no different. Despite averaging over 20 touches per game, Kamara has yet to find the end zone at all this season.

He comes in playing on 69.2% of the snaps and running a route on 55.2% of drop backs, along with a 20.5% target share, 53.8% red zone rushing share, and 37.5% red zone target share.

Kamara plays a big role for them -- shocking! I say this in jest since he has done all of this without scoring.

When it comes to the Cardinals' defense, they have actually been solid against the rushing game this season, allowing the eighth-fewest (480) rushing yards to running backs.

However, they are 16th in the league (194) when it comes to receiving yards allowed to running backs and tied for the most (3) receiving touchdowns allowed to running backs. This falls right in line with our rankings, where the Cardinals have the best rush defense per our metrics, but the ninth-worst pass defense.

Kamara's strong offensive role should put him in a spot to finally find the end zone this week.

DeAndre Hopkins Over 60.5 Receiving Yards (-110)

With DeAndre Hopkins set to make his season debut, let's take a look at his props.

Hopkins was suspended for the first six weeks of the season and has been activated by the Cardinals for tonight's matchup. Hopkins had a 20.8% target share in 10 games last year, and he has a soft matchup to get this season started.

The Saints' secondary hasn't been good this season and through six games has allowed the third-most (1,132) receiving yards to wide receivers. Hopkins should be able to step into a large receiving role right away since Marquise Brown is out for an extended period of time.

Our projections have him going for 66.29 receiving yards tonight, hitting the over in a great matchup with a clear offensive role to fill.

Zach Ertz Under 45.5 Receiving Yards (-110)

Finally, we take a look at Zach Ertz and his receiving prop tonight.

While Ertz has played a consistent role for the Cardinals this season, tonight is not his night. Under 45.5 receiving yards is the spot I'm looking at tonight for a few reasons.

As noted above, the Saints' secondary has gotten lit up by wide receivers this season, but it's quite the opposite against tight ends. So far this season, the Saints have only allowed 177 receiving yards to tight ends, which is the fourth-fewest in the league. That's an average of 29.5 yards per game.

The Saints are also in the league's bottom 10 for the most rushing yards allowed to running backs, giving them a clear path for their offense. When they do pass the ball, I expect them to look to Hopkins early and often to get him fully involved in the offense.

Ertz is projected for 32.70 receiving yards, hitting the under on his prop tonight.