Happy fantasy playoffs, everyone! I’m sure plenty of you aren’t excited to hear that, as some of your most cherished seasons may be over, but to those of you still battling, good luck! We’ve got another Thursday Night Football game today, and there’s even Saturday games starting this week. Tonight’s game features another divisional rematch, with the Los Angeles Chargers heading into Las Vegas to face the Raiders. These two teams played back in week four, and despite the Chargers being at home and featuring the now-injured Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen, the Raiders and O’Connell still came out on top, 24-17. Now, with Easton Stick starting and the aforementioned stars sitting out, the Chargers will try to pick up a road victory on Thursday night. There’s a couple of props I like in tonight’s game, so let’s look into it.
Aidan O’Connell over 203.5 passing yards -105
I got on this number a little earlier, at 197.5 for a bit more juice, but I think it’s still really reasonable at anything under 205. The Chargers have only allowed fewer than 205 passing yards on two occasions, and one of those was to the Bailey Zappe Patriots, which hardly counts. L.A. is still allowing the fourth-most passing yards per game this season, and O’Connell has beaten this total in four of six starts, including his last outing against Las Vegas with 238. Josh Jacobs is trending towards being out tonight, and Vegas will have to try and move the ball somehow. Backup Zamir White is unlikely to command the kind of workload Josh Jacobs typically would, so O’Connell should have plenty of opportunity tonight.
Austin Ekeler over 31.5 receiving yards -115
Tonight will be young Easton Stick’s first NFL start, and without star veteran Keenan Allen, he’ll need someone he can rely on to catch the ball and make plays. Josh Palmer returns tonight, but likely in limited fashion, and nobody else on the field is as established in the passing game as Ekeler is. He should see plenty of high-percentage targets as the Chargers try to give Stick easy passes he can execute. Ekeler has beaten this total in six of ten games, and the Raiders have surrendered at least 34 receiving yards to opposing RBs in three of their last four.
It might not be the most exciting game of the season tonight, and we’re in for some more ugly quarterback matchups this weekend. It’s been a rough year for the league from a quarterback play perspective, but it’s also produced some pretty great performances from some unlikely places. I’ll be delighted if we can see some fireworks from Easton Stick tonight, and it wouldn’t be unprecedented, with other invisible young backups like Jake Browning producing in their first starts. As always, these are my thoughts and your picks are your own. Gamble responsibly, have fun, and good luck to us!