Partner Content | NFL Week 9 prop picks: Bet on a big day from Washington’s Terry McLaurin

For most of this season, McLaurin hasn’t been the type of wide receiver you want to back, but his circumstances have changed recently.

Carson Wentz was unable to develop a connection with the 27-year-old, but with Taylor Heinicke back under centre McLaurin has produced 186 yards in his last two games — and reminded NFL fans that he remains an elite receiver.

Washington’s quarterback change isn’t the only factor that makes a strong McLaurin performance probable. He’ll also benefit from going up against an unimpressive Minnesota Vikings passing defence.

The Vikings concede the second-most yards per attempt in the NFL (7.7) and rank 32nd in DVOA against top receivers, according to Football Outsiders.

Minnesota has been especially woeful on that account in its last two games, allowing DeAndre Hopkins and Tyreek Hill to combine for 24 receptions and 336 receiving yards. McLaurin might not put up video game numbers like those, but he should clear this line for the fourth time in five games.

Key stat: McLaurin has hit this over in his last three contests with Heinicke starting, averaging 93 yards per game during that time.

Quick picks

Smith under 33.5 passing attempts (-107): This line is simply too high for a quarterback who averages 31.1 attempts per game. He has fallen short of this number in six of his eight starts.

The Seattle Seahawks prefer to run a balanced offence and there’s no reason to predict they’ll alter their strategy unless they are down by a significant margin.

Considering the Seahawks are just 2-point underdogs against the Arizona Cardinals — and seem like a good bet to beat them outright — we’re not expecting Seattle to waver from its commitment to the run.

Fields over 50.5 rushing yards (-113): As the season has worn on, the Chicago Bears have made a concerted effort to use Fields’ athletic gifts to enhance their ground attack.

The sophomore quarterback produced just 31.7 rushing yards per game in the first three weeks of the season. In the last five, he has averaged 65.8, clearing this over four times.

His Week 9 opponent, the Miami Dolphins, have only faced one mobile quarterback this season — Lamar Jackson — and he went off for 119 rushing yards.

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