Let's have some fun and try to win a few dollars this season. Here's how this article will work: each week, I'll share my favorite player props, put my own real money behind them, post a screenshot of the bets, and explain why I like each pick. Sometimes the reasoning will come from deep statistical analysis, and other times it'll just be a gut call. For every pick, I'll walk you through my thought process. If it makes sense to you, feel free to tail me.
The goal is simple: end the week with more money in my Underdog account than I started with. At the same time, this is meant to be recreational, geared toward anyone who wants to add a little excitement to the games with a small bet. Most of the picks will lean toward overs, because overs are simply more fun to root for. All else being equal, I'll try to focus on prime-time games and the most entertaining spots on the schedule. However, I won't force plays just to have action on every night game.
How It Works
Underdog Pick'em is a fun twist on daily fantasy games where you predict whether a player will go higher or lower than their projected stats across categories like touchdowns, yards, or fantasy points. To play, simply pick at least two props from two different teams. You can choose player stats like touchdowns, rushing yards, or even fantasy points and predict whether they will go higher or lower than the projected numbers.
Payouts
Underdog Fantasy offers a payout structure that rewards you based on the number of correct selections:
- Two picks: 3x your entry
- Three picks: 6x your entry
- Four picks: 10x your entry
- Five picks: 20x your entry
Tracking Last Week
I will track every Pick Em I make this season and start each week's article with a quick review of what went wrong and what went right the previous week.
- Last Week (0-2), -$20
- Season (19-22), -$228
It ended up being a light week. One of the two Pick Ems ended up getting cancelled. Had a feeling the Jakobi Meyers prop was too high, so chose a rare under. But he ended up scratching entirely. The other prop was a loser. Rachaad White failed to top 22.5 receiving yards despite seeing six targets, and Jameson Williams was a disaster.
Pick Em/Champions Pick 1 - Bengals/Jets Anytime TDs
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Higgins has scored a touchdown in eight of the last nine games in which the Bengals scored 20 or more points.
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Cincinnati has an implied team total of 25.5 this week.
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The Bengals offense appears to have found its rhythm with Joe Flacco settling in. Flacco threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns against Pittsburgh, and while Ja'Marr Chase led the team in targets, Higgins still caught six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets. He would have topped 100 yards and added a second touchdown if he hadn't slid inside the 5-yard line late to help run out the clock.
Tee Higgins thinking to slide in the moment is incredible. pic.twitter.com/AbUhBfYa3h
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 17, 2025
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The Jets defense will likely be without Sauce Gardner and forced to rely on Brandon Stephens and rookie Azareye'h Thomas. Stephens struggled badly against the Bengals last year—Chase went for 193 yards and two touchdowns while Higgins added 83 yards and two scores in the first matchup.
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This is all about the matchup. The Bengals' defense has allowed nine touchdowns to opposing tight ends this season. No other team has given up more than six, and only two others have allowed more than four. Cincinnati gave up four touchdowns to Steelers tight ends in their last outing.
Not 1... Not 2... But 3 different Steelers tight ends scored a TD tonight 👀@MichaelFFlorio CALLED HIS SHOT 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/zwmMCvoS7J
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) October 17, 2025
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With Garrett Wilson likely to miss a second straight game, Taylor should be one of Tyrod Taylor's primary targets. He has averaged 6.3 targets per game over his last four. After Tyrod entered last week's game, he looked Mason Taylor's way five times in the second half.
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Taylor missed practice on Thursday with a quad injury, but Ian Rapoport reported it is not considered serious.