NFL PrizePicks: Giants vs. 49ers Player Predictions for Thursday Night Football
After a tough Week 1, the following week rebounded not only with some profitability but also some much more exciting football games. Although a Giants vs. 49ers Thursday Night Football matchup without Saquon Barkley doesn’t exactly scream excitement, there are still plenty of places to make some money on PrizePicks tonight.
Each week, I’ll deliver my top NFL PrizePicks predictions for Thursday, Sunday, and Monday Night Football. Use the PrizePicks referral code GRINDERS to receive a $100 deposit match to prep you for the NFL season.
PrizePicks Plays: Giants vs. 49ers
- Deebo Samuel – More Than 15.5 Rushing Yards
- Matt Breida – More Than 32.5 Rushing Yards
- Darius Slayton – More Than 34.5 Receiving Yards
Deebo Samuel – 15.5 Rushing Yards
Christian McCaffrey has played nearly every single snap for the 49ers so far this season. Many (including myself) expected Elijah Mitchell to have some type of involvement, but that hasn’t been the case through 2 weeks. However, a Week 3 matchup featuring the Giants vs. 49ers may be the perfect place to flip the script. While I’m not quite confident enough in McCaffrey having a smaller workload that I want to bet his unders or even touch Elijah Mitchell, I think Deebo Samuel stands to benefit on a short week.
McCaffrey saw 23 touches last week and now sees a terrible Giants team in a game with a huge spread. It would make sense that the 49ers would try to conserve McCaffrey on limited rest. However, even if it doesn’t happen, this could easily turn into a blowout with multiple others involved regardless. The beauty of Samuel’s rushing line is it’s probably too low even if McCaffrey is fully unleashed like he has been in the first two weeks. Samuel received 5 carries last week, easily doubling his rushing line and gets an incredibly easy matchup this week with a road to even more usage if Aiyuk is out or McCaffrey is used somewhat sparingly. As previously mentioned last week with George Pickens, I love a player who can surpass their line on just one touch, and that is the case with Deebo tonight with a low 15.5 rushing-yard line.
Play: Samuel – More Than 15.5 Rushing Yards
Matt Breida – 32.5 Rushing Yards
Despite the Giants being massive underdogs, this line is still too low for Breida who is likely to have a big role without Barkley tonight. He currently projects to beat this mark in both THE BLITZ and Rotogrinders projections despite the tough matchup. It’s totally reasonable to pivot to his receiving line if you’re scared away from the spread in this game. However, it’s such a low line he really should just need 8-10 carries to reach it, even if he struggles. Breida is an electric runner and should be heavily involved tonight for the Giants, regardless of if this one stays close or not.
Play: Breida – More Than 32.5 Rushing Yards
Darius Slayton – 34.5 Receiving Yards
Speaking of players who can reach their necessary yardage total in just one touch, insert Darius Slayton for the Giants. The Giants will likely have to throw the ball a lot to catch up to the 49ers in this one, especially without Saquon Barkley. Slayton is a deep threat who could easily crush this total with one deep bomb, but he’s also received a fair amount of volume this year as well.
He’s currently the second most targeted Giant in the passing game so far this season behind Darren Waller. Waller’s line of 4+ receptions or 45+ yards isn’t too bad either and I’d be perfectly fine with subbing him into the DFS Pick’em card instead of Slayton or Breida. With at least 5 targets in each game and the Giants almost surely having to come from behind in this one, Slayton should be a strong bet to eclipse 34.5 yards.