Week 7 of the NFL season will conclude with a doubleheader of Monday Night Football action. Kicking off at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Detroit Lions will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Then, the Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans will face off in a matchup scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET.
In addition to the typical array of betting options, including player props, game totals and plenty more, DraftKings is offering a King of the End Zone promo.
During the Monday Night Football matchup tonight, $2 million in DraftKings Sportsbook bonus bets will be up for grabs.
Find more details on this promo below!
King of the End Zone — What You Need to Know
King of the End Zone Preview & Picks | Monday, Oct. 20
Players with the shortest odds to score an Anytime TD:
- Jahmyr Gibbs (-195)
- David Montgomery (-130)
- Amon-Ra St. Brown (-115)
- Rachaad White (+105)
- Zach Charbonnett (+135)
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba (+150)
- Nico Collins (+150)
- Kenneth Walker III (+165)
King of the End Zone Picks for Monday, Oct. 20:
The thought process behind making these selections is a bit complex. For starters, you should be targeting players you believe will score a touchdown. But to win the split of the bonus bets through the King of the End Zone promo, you also must keep the distance of the potential score in mind. Here are my three favorite King of the End Zone picks for the pair of Monday Night matchups.
1. Jameson Williams (+180 odds for an Anytime TD)
Few players have as much big-play potential as Jameson Williams across the entire NFL. Detroit does an excellent job scheming up creative ways to put the football in his hands and allow the speedster to make things happen. Through the opening six games, Williams has two touchdowns along with 289 receiving yards and three rush attempts.
The Lions will be licking their chops to face off with this Tampa Bay defense. They rank 22nd in points allowed and 15th in yards given up while being more vulnerable against the pass. The Buccaneers rank 21st in passing yards allowed, 21st in net yards per pass attempt, and 18th in passing touchdowns conceded. It also is worth noting that Williams registered a career-high 11 targets in last year’s matchup against the Tampa Bay.
Williams is currently averaging 17.0 yards per reception this season, which ranks seventh in the NFL. This is also slightly below the 17.3 yards per reception that he averaged last season. There should be plenty of scoring in this matchup between these two high-powered offenses, as shown by the game total being set at 53.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook. For reference, the game total for the Texans vs. Seahawks matchup is 41.5. Expect Detroit to dig into their bag and have a few big play opportunities for Williams throughout. He is a threat to score from any place on the field and my top pick to be tonight’s King of the End Zone winner.
2. Jaxon Smith-Njigba (+150 odds for Anytime TD)
You can make a pretty convincing case that Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been the best wide receiver in football to start this season. He leads the entire league with 696 receiving yards, even with many players having an additional game under their belt due to this being a Monday Night matchup. The Ohio State product has pulled in 42 of his 56 targets, is averaging 116.0 yards per game, and has three touchdowns to his name thus far. He has 100+ yards in four of the six games and is coming off his strongest performance last week with eight receptions for 162 yards and a score.
Houston’s defense has performed better than expected thus far but has been aided by a friendly schedule. They are coming off back-to-back weeks in which they have allowed 207 total yards or fewer to opponents and just 10 combined points. But this also occurred while facing the Cam Ward-led Titans and the Cooper Rush-led Ravens. Houston ranks fifth in passing yards allowed and has allowed the fewest passing touchdowns while ranking second in the NFL in EPA per pass play. However, Puka Nacua tallied 130 receiving yards and a touchdown against the Texans in the opening week as evidence it can be done.
The arrival of Sam Darnold has changed the outlook of Seattle’s offense in a major way. He has proven ready to let it fly, and this will be necessary against a Texans team with a front seven that is the foundation of the defense. Smith-Njigba has received nine or more targets in four of the six games and registered a reception of 36+ yards in every game. Count on Seattle continuing to air it out at a high rate and for Smith-Njigba to maintain his high level of offensive volume. He is coming off a 61-yard touchdown last week and will continue to be the biggest factor in the Seahawks’ offensive attack. Be confident he will remain heavily involved in the offense and be in play for King of the End Zone tonight.
3. Tez Johnson (+390 odds for Anytime TD)
For a bit of a deeper pull, I am eyeing Tez Johnson as a dark horse threat to win tonight’s King of the End Zone contest. The outlook of the Buccaneers’ wide receiver position is a bit of a mystery, with Chris Godwin remaining out and both Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka listed as questionable. When at full strength, the Buccaneers may have the most dangerous collection of pass catchers in the league. But unfortunately, these opportunities have been few and far between and will not be the case tonight.
One of the beneficiaries of the injuries has been rookie Tez Johnson. The seventh-round selection has six receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown on the year, with all of this coming over the previous three games. Johnson pulled in a 45-yard touchdown last week against the 49ers and logged a season-high 71.7% of the offensive snaps. Baker Mayfield is playing at one of the highest levels of any quarterback in the league and needs capable pass catchers for this production to continue. Johnson will not be confused for some of the All-Pro talents missing ahead of him, but he is perfectly capable of stepping up and looks to have earned some trust from Mayfield in the recent weeks.
Keep an eye on the injury report for the availability of Egbuka and Evans, but both appear to be legitimate toss-ups in their chances of getting on the field. Even if both do return, expect Johnson to have earned some equity in the offense and begin being called on at a greater rate. The +390 odds of the anytime touchdown rightfully indicate this is a bit of a long shot, but expect some notable line movement if Evans and Egbuka cannot go. If you want to prioritize your potential split of the bonus bet earnings by taking a player that likely will not be backed at such a high rate, Tez Johnson is a worthy swing to take.
