Our Thursday Night Football matchup carries a lot of weight. The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to create some distance in the AFC North, as Mike Tomlin powers them towards yet another winning season. The Aaron Rodgers-DK Metcalf connection has been the story, but the running game is their staple. That means a lot of Jaylen Warren, who will be the center of their game plan against the Cincinnati Bengals. And that makes his prop bets awfully interesting.
Pittsburgh is a -5.5 favorite on the road on DraftKings Sportsbook. If you fancy a Bengals home upset, they’re priced at +220 on the moneyline. The over/under for this game is set at 44.5 total points. Let’s go ahead and get into the top Jaylen Warren prop bet for this Thursday Night AFC North showdown.
Best Jaylen Warren prop bet
It’s been a rocky start for the Jaylen Warren RB1 era in Pittsburgh. He was used to being a receiving down back alongside Najee Harris, but the front office let Harris walk to give Warren the reins. While he is still cooking as a pass-catching back, the running part hasn’t been great. In four games, Warren has taken 54 carries for 184 yards (3.4 YPC) and no rushing touchdowns.
Warren has ceded some of the rushing work to newcomer Kenneth Gainwell. And if you think it’s just a blocking issue, Gainwell has cast doubt on that. The former Eagles backup took 19 carries for 99 yards and two scores against a strong Vikings defense in Week 4 while Warren was out.
Jaylen Warren truthers were a bit concerned with the lack of production and the emergence of Gainwell. But after his two-week absence, Warren came back to take the lead in Week 6 against the Browns. One of the best run defenses in the league so far, Warren took 11 carries for 52 yards. His understudies, Gainwell and Kaleb Johnson, took a combined 12 carries for 37 yards. He looked spry after the short layoff.
This Bengals run defense isn’t nearly as good as Cleveland’s. They’re allowing 4.4 yards per carry this season, placing them 20th out of 32 teams. With the game script likely to favor Warren and the Steelers, I’m counting on a second straight productive week from Pittsburgh’s lead back.
