Cleveland Browns vs. Arizona Cardinals: Deshaun Watson, Trey McBride and Jerome Ford Prop Bet Picks

Clayton Tune is expected to make his NFL starting debut on Sunday for the Cardinals, and it only comes against the best defense in the league.

Arizona began the week as a 7-point underdog and the spread has now moved to 10. Check out my picks for that game and every other this week. (Yes, I got the score exactly right on the Steelers-Titans Thursday Night Football matchup. NBD.)

There were no prop bets available on Tune as of Friday afternoon, because Kyler Murray was listed as questionable for the game, but Tune is widely expected to play.

With that in mind, here are three prop bets for a matchup which could get lopsided in Week 9, after a 2-1 showing courtesy of DeAndre Hopkins and Patrick Peterson on Thursday.

Prop Bet Pick: Browns QB Deshaun Watson Over/Under 1.5 Touchdown Passes

Watson has been a tremendous disappointment since joining the Browns, and the numbers this year are ugly. He has a net yards per attempt of 5.2 on the season, which is 16 percent below average after leading the NFL in that category in his final year with the Texans.

Watson has been dealing with a shoulder injury for the past few weeks but has been deemed good to go in this one. He only has four touchdown passes in three-plus games this season, so the over is a big underdog, but I like the value.

The Cardinals’ cornerbacks are quite bad on the outside, and Amari Cooper could shred Marco Wilson if that’s the matchup.

The Browns should be able to move the ball with relative ease, and should get good field position and plenty of opportunities with rookie quarterback Clayton Tune on the other side.

Cleveland will run the ball a lot in this game, but I think Watson will throw for a pair of scores because the Cardinals won’t be able to generate pressure up front or cover adequately on the outside.

Prediction: Deshaun Watson over 1.5 passing touchdowns (+170 at DraftKings)

Prop Bet Pick: TE Trey McBride Over/Under 40.5 Receiving Yards

McBride had a breakout game in Week 8 against the Ravens, catching 10 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown on 14 targets.

Then-quarterback Joshua Dobbs continued his theme of throwing to the tight end, and if he was still starting I’d like the over on this one.

However, it’s unknown how Clayton Tune will favor his passing targets. McBride would make sense as a safety outlet, but as one of the two biggest receiving threats alongside Hollywood Brown, Cleveland may choose to keep a close eye on him.

The Browns are No. 1 in the NFL in passing yards allowed and I don’t think McBride will have a lot of success in this one.

Prediction: TE Trey McBride under 40.5 receiving yards (-115 at BetMGM)

Prop Bet Pick: Browns RB Jerome Ford Over/Under 43.5 Rushing Yards

Ford is averaging 4.4 yards per carry on the season and has filled in admirably for the injured Nick Chubb.

However, Ford recently dealt with his own ankle injury that he surprisingly played through in Week 8 against the Seahawks. He got only the third-most rushing attempts on the team, but still went for 37 yards on nine carries.

The question becomes: Will Ford return to a No. 1 running back workload ahead of Kareem Hunt and Pierre Strong?

Maybe it’s not 16 carries, but I could certainly see Ford getting to double digits, especially for a run-heavy Browns team that will likely be leading for much of the afternoon.

The Cardinals are allowing 4.4 yards per carry on the season, and I think Ford does at least that well in this one. The volume is a question mark, but last week was promising and Ford should get more carries against Arizona.

Prediction: Jerome Ford over 43.5 rushing yards (-115 at BetMGM)

Prop Bets Record This Week: 2-1
Overall: 33-29