Looking for the top Sunday Night Football player picks? You’ve come to the right place.
We’ve asked our Props.com analyst Josh Shepardson to search through all the best daily fantasy sports picks for every week of the NFL season so he can bring two of his best Sunday Night Football player picks to the table.
So let’s dive right in to the action below.
Top SNF Player Props: Week 3
Check back on 9/20 for an updated slate of SNF props. In the meantime, feel free to read through last week’s content below.
Top SNF Player Picks: Week 2
Josh Shepardson breaks down his top two SNF picks.
Caleb Williams “Higher” Than 17.5 Rushing Yards
The Bears stormed back to victory against the Titans last week despite Caleb Williams’s play. The rookie quarterback was dreadful. He completed fewer than 50% of his 29 pass attempts last week, amassing a comical 93 passing yards. Now, Keenan Allen hasn’t practiced this week with a heel injury, and Rome Odunze has a knee injury. They’re both questionable. At best, they’ll play through injuries and likely be hampered. At worst, the Bears will be down to DJ Moore and a motley crew of ancillary pass-catching options.
Williams won’t have an easy time passing against the Texans. Furthermore, Chicago is a 6.5-point underdog. So, Williams and the Bears will likely have a negative game script and will be forced to pass often. Dropbacks are opportunities for Williams to scramble, something he’ll likely do if his wideouts can’t create separation.
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Williams had two scrambles on 33 dropbacks in Week 1. Williams ran for 15 yards on five attempts against the Titans last week. Yet, those numbers are misleading. Williams had 17 rushing yards on three attempts before kneeling twice to close out the game, losing a yard on each kneel. His pre-kneeling rushing output was rock-solid.
Williams was also a talented runner in college. Per PFF, he had over 17.5 rushing yards in 12 of 14 games in 2022 and 10 of 12 in 2023. So, he exceeded 17.5 rushing yards in 22 of 26 games for the USC Trojans.
The Texans permitted 56 rushing yards on six attempts to Anthony Richardson in Week 1. Richardson has the literal best athletic testing numbers for a quarterback in the history of the NFL Draft Combine. Still, the Bears would be wise to take a page from Indy’s book and use Williams’s legs. Williams is a good bet to surpass 17.5 rushing yards against the Texans, whether on designed runs or scrambles.
Where to play: Caleb Williams Higher Than 17.5 Rushing Yards | Underdog
Joe Mixon “Higher” Than 70.5 Rushing Yards
Joe Mixon’s debut with the Texans went swimmingly. He ran 30 times for 159 yards in Week 1. Mixon’s 30 rush attempts were 90.9% of Houston’s backfield’s attempts last week.
Mixon’s bell-cow role is ideal for his rushing outlook. Yet, so are Houston’s offensive tendencies. According to RotoViz’s pace app, Houston’s 56% situation-neutral rush rate in Week 1 was the NFL’s sixth-highest mark. The Colts invited the run last week. Nevertheless, the Texans are projected to have a positive game script as 6.5-point favorites. Thus, they should lean on the running game. When leading by at least three points and excluding the final two minutes of the first half since last year, Houston has had a 50% rush rate.
Mixon can feast against a defense gashed on the ground last week. Tony Pollard ran 16 times for 82 yards, and Tyjae Spears ran four times for 21 yards. So, Tennessee’s running backs had 103 rushing yards on 20 attempts.
Circling back to the Texans, they did an outstanding job of providing Mixon with rushing room in Week 1. According to the Fantasy Points data suite, Houston has produced the fourth-most yards before contact per rush attempt (2.68) this season. They can kick Chicagon’s defensive line’s butt, and Mixon can do the rest. Mixon’s an outstanding bet to tote the rock 15-plus times. In turn, he’s likely to eclipse 70.5 rushing yards.
Where to play: Joe Mixon Higher Than 70.5 Rushing Yards | Underdog