After a couple of exciting standalone kickoff games to start the season, the NFL is back for the first Sunday of the season on September 13. To celebrate the start of the new season, DraftKings Sportsbook is ready to roll with a massive Slate Breaker promotion. With eight games kicking off at 1 p.m. ET, the Slate Breaker promo will celebrate the first touchdown scorer of the afternoon by awarding a massive $2 million in bonus bets.
The NFL Slate Breaker promo will split that huge pile of bonus bets between all the bettors who placed their token on the player who scores the first touchdown of the day. The first touchdown of the game slate is defined as the player who scores the fastest touchdown in the least amount of time elapsed in their game compared to the rest of the 1 ET start time games. Following Opt-In, players will receive a token to place on any “First Touchdown” bet with a $10 minimum. Not only will the slate breaker deliver a win to those bettors as the first touchdown scorer in their game, but they’ll also earn a share of those bonus bets.
Let’s run down some of the top plays for Week 1’s Slate Breaker.
NFL Slate Breaker — What You Need to Know
NFL Slate Breaker Preview & Picks | Sunday, Sep. 13
Players with the shortest odds to be the first TD scorer:
Note: These odds are for the First TD scorer of each game individually, not for the first touchdown of the entire slate. They are helpful but not specifically aligned to this promotion.
- Jahmyr Gibbs (+280)
- Derrick Henry (+370)
- Jonathan Taylor (+390)
- Bijan Robinson (+400)
- D’Andre Swift (+450)
- Chase Brown (+500)
- Breece Hall (+500)
- David Montgomery (+500)
- James Cook (+550)
- Ja’Marr Chase (+600)
- Rico Dowdle (+600)
NFL Slate Breaker Picks for Sunday, Sep. 13:
When making NFL Slate Breaker picks, we’re looking for players who are not only likely to score the first touchdown in their game but also to score quickly. There’s definitely some randomness in play with the coin toss, but we’re also looking for players with the potential to break a big play and score a long touchdown right away. The NFL Slate Breaker should be some fun mayhem right as the action begins at 1 p.m. ET.
These three picks are my favorite balance of likelihood to score, potential to score a long touchdown, and not too much popularity.
1. Jonathan Taylor First TD Scorer (+390)
The Colts scored the third-most first-quarter points in the NFL last season, trailing only the Seahawks and Rams, who already played this week and are not in this 16-team pool of 1 p.m. ET matchups. Indy averaged 6.5 points per game in the first quarter, while no other team in this early window averaged more than 5.5 points per first quarter.
In total last year, the Colts had 27 rushing touchdowns and 25 receiving touchdowns. Taylor had the highest percentage of those touchdowns with 20 scores (38.4%). He scored the Colts’ first touchdown of the game five times last season, and he’ll probably get a steady workload right away against the Ravens in Week 1. Baltimore gave up 15 running-back touchdowns in 17 regular-season games last year, so Taylor should be in a strong spot to start the season strong.
Taylor has the potential to break a long play on any touch as either a rusher or receiver. If the Colts get the ball in his hands early, he could break free for a touchdown and be the NFL Slate Breaker.
2. Ja’Marr Chase First TD Scorer (+600)
Chase is another long-touchdown specialist who could strike fast and early as the Bengals take on the Buccaneers in the game with the highest point total of the early games. With Chase and Joe Burrow healthy, the Bengals will look to avoid another slow start this season. One way to do that is to attack the Bucs’ secondary early and often.
Chase had eight touchdowns in 16 games last year. Seven of those scores came at home, where he averaged 115.8 receiving yards per game. Even though he said earlier this week he’s not a big fan of playing at 1 p.m. ET, it’ll definitely be worth him getting up a little early if he can deliver a Slate Breaker win.
Chase scored the Bengals’ first touchdown four times last year. Since the Buccaneers have been prone to giving up big plays at times over the last few years, Chase could get loose for a big score early in this high-scoring contest.
3. Amon-Ra St. Brown (+700 First TD Scorer)
St. Brown is not the most likely first TD scorer in his Lions’ opener against the Saints, and he’s not even the most likely first TD scorer on his own team. However, his ability to score long touchdowns and his early involvement in the Lions’ scripted plays give him a chance to deliver an early enough touchdown to be a contender for this week’s NFL Slate Breaker title.
St. Brown had 11 scores last year, including seven touchdowns in eight home games. He averaged 9.2 targets per game last year and hauled in 6.9 catches per game for 82.4 receiving yards per game. With so much volume coming his way, he has a chance to be the first player into the end zone in what could be a high-scoring game between the Saints and Lions in Detroit.
St. Brown continued to impress during the preseason, and coach Dan Campbell has been heaping praise on the offense, calling it the “best it’s ever been.” New offensive coordinator Drew Petzing should have this unit ready to roll right away. While Jahmyr Gibbs is also a strong play in all formats, including first touchdown scorer, St. Brown brings a little more likelihood of striking first since he scores from longer range. Getting him at 7:1 with fewer tokens on him could offer a bigger payout.
