The NFL is back, baby! The new season kicks off on Wednesday, September 9, with a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Seattle will be celebrating its championship, while the Patriots will be looking to get some revenge for the last game of their magical run to the Super Bowl. Both teams made major changes this offseason despite their success and will look to avoid a Super Bowl hangover as they get back to work this Wednesday. To celebrate the season kickoff, DraftKings Sportsbook is ready to roll with a massive King of the End Zone promotion.
To start the season, the Kings of the End Zone promo will award a massive $5 million in bonus bets. If you opt in to the token and place a singles bet of at least $5 on a player in a touchdown market and he scores the longest touchdown of the night, you win a share of the $5 million in bonus bets. In last year’s Super Bowl, the Seahawks DST was the King of the End Zone, with 21,960 Seahawks D/ST bettors having received $183 in Bonus Bets.
Let’s run down some of the top plays for this year’s kickoff game for this year’s King of the End Zone.
King of the End Zone — What You Need to Know
The rules of the promotion are pretty simple: as long as the player you placed a singles bet on in the “TD Scorers” market scores the longest touchdown of the day, and that bet was worth $5 or more and was placed from either your cash balance or DK Dollars, you will win a share of bonus bets. The fewer people who have their token on that player, the larger the payout will be, so it’s important to balance out the popularity of the pick with the likelihood of it hitting. Taking a longer shot could land a massive payout, while picking a more obvious choice has a more likely chance of winning, even if the bonus bet is smaller.
Passing touchdowns are ineligible for this promotion, so if you want to pick Drake Maye — for instance — he’ll have to run it in himself. Despite not being an individual player, D/ST is eligible to become King of the End Zone.
King of the End Zone Preview & Picks | Wednesday, Sep. 9
Players with the shortest odds to score a TD:
- Rhamondre Stevenson (+105)
- Jadarian Price (+130)
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba (+140)
- A.J. Brown (+160)
- George Holani (+170)
King of the End Zone Picks for Wednesday, Sep. 9:
When making King of the End Zone picks, we’re looking for players who are not only likely to score a touchdown, but also likely to score the longest touchdown of the game. It’s also important to balance the popularity of the player for the King of the End Zone tokens as well, since a user’s share of bonus bets is tied to how popular their pick was.
These three picks are my favorite balance of likelihood to score, potential to score a long touchdown, and not too much popularity.
1. Jaxon Smith-Njigba (+140 Anytime TD)
Smith-Njigba is the biggest fantasy name on the board in this matchup, and he showed an impressive ability to find the end zone with 10 touchdowns in 17 regular-season games. Smith-Njigba had the largest target share of any WR in the NFL last year and drew 15 red-zone targets. His longest career touchdown was a 63-yard strike last year against the Titans, and he can break any play into a long touchdown.
He was limited to just four catches for 27 yards on 10 targets in the Super Bowl, and the Patriots just paid CB Christian Gonzalez to step up and shut down top receivers like JSN. After a long offseason of sitting on that disappointing final game, though, look for Smith-Njigba to have a much better showing in this rematch, especially since the Patriots don’t typically track Gonzalez against the opponent’s best receiver. The Seahawks will likely try to get JSN in other matchups, and he has the raw ability to torch any secondary when he’s at his best.
His high volume and big-play ability make him a strong option for the King of the End Zone this Wednesday, even though he will likely be one of the most popular options as well.
2. DeMario Douglas (+700 Anytime TD)
The Patriots brought in A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs to overhaul their receiving corps, parting ways with Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte. One key carryover in the passing game, though, is DeMario Douglas, who worked out of the slot with the starters for most of training camp and the preseason.
Douglas had an inconsistent role last season from week to week, but he should be more stable this season with plenty of big-play upside. He had four receiving touchdowns last season, including one in the playoffs, and he snagged the second-longest touchdown of the season.
With more work, Douglas could be in for the best season of his career. He could be the target of some downfield shots if the Patriots look to attack the Seahawks’ safeties over the top. Nick Emmanwori (ankle) is questionable and Ty Okada (hamstring) has already been ruled out, which could leave the Seahawks vulnerable. While it’s unclear exactly who will be matched up in the slot against Douglas, it could be rookie UDFA cornerback Avery Smith from Toledo, which would seem to give Douglas a chance to go off for a big game, and if he gets a long score, the bonus bets could be massive.
3. Rashid Shaheed (+700 Anytime TD)
Shaheed is a big-play specialist who is always a strong option since he has the potential to deliver with a special teams touchdown or a long score as a receiver. He has worked with Sam Darnold throughout the offseason and should be able to take on a more involved role in his first full year with the Seahawks after joining them in the middle of last season.
Shaheed had this kickoff return in the playoffs, and a repeat of this kind of dynamic play would make both the DST and his individual token-holders ecstatic to start the season.
Shaheed also had the longest touchdown in the regular season with a 100-yard kickoff return against the Falcons. He scored a pair of receiving touchdowns in the regular season, but none with the Seahawks. During his tenure with the Saints, he had 12 receiving scores in his 42 regular-season contests, and if the Patriots focus too much of their coverage on JSN, Shaheed has the potential to get free for a long touchdown.
