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College Football Week 1 Player Prop Bets & Picks (2024)

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While the Week 0 action and the Thursday and Friday slate of college football games served as a nice appetizer for the start of the new season, the college football season really gets going in a big way with Saturday’s loaded Week 1 action. I have scoured all of the top matchups and comprised my list of today’s best College Football Player Prop Bets.

Read on for our Top College Football Week 1 Player Prop Bets for Saturday.

    Saturday's Best College Football Player Prop Bet Picks

    Let’s dive into our top college football Week 1 player prop bet picks on Saturday’s slate of games.

    (College football player prop bet odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

    Jalen Milroe (Alabama) Over 1.5 passing touchdowns (-190)

    Kalen DeBoer is in his first game as Alabama head coach, replacing the legendary Nick Saban. All eyes will be tuning in to see how the juggernaut that Saban built will look under DeBoer's tutelage, and I expect him to feature his most talented offensive player,
    quarterback Jalen Milroe, early and often. Milroe completed 52% of his passes 20-plus yards downfield last season, and his 14 passing touchdowns on those throws were tied for third in FBS. In addition, his 34 completions of 20 or more air yards were the fourth-highest among FBS quarterbacks.

    We have already seen what DeBoer and his staff could do with Michael Penix Jr.’s talent, riding his rocket arm and deep throw ability all the way to the national championship game. Alabama has a team total O/U of 24.5 first-half points, which suggests Milroe can reach this milestone after just 30 minutes of play. I am not turned off by these steep -190 odds, as Milroe threw for three-plus touchdowns in four games last season, and had five other games with two touchdown passes under the more run-heavy Saban.

    Donovan Edwards (Michigan) first-half anytime touchdown scorer (+150) 

    Former Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh rode Blake Corum and a power running game to a national championship last season, and after fellow backfield mate Donovan Edwards contributed two rushing touchdowns in the national championship game against Washington, he is ready to take on a larger role and be the alpha male for a run-heavy Michigan team.

    While other sites like bet365 offer more enticing +300 odds for Edwards to find the endzone in the first quarter, I am taking advantage of the extra 30 minutes of play at the still generous +150 odds for him to score in the first half.

    Considering Edwards' implied probability to score a touchdown is as high as 75.61% via FanDuel's -310 anytime touchdown scorer odds, I am running to the betting window to put down a wager on the dynamic back to score in the first 30 minutes.

    Noah Thomas (Texas A&M) anytime touchdown scorer (+265) 

    Aggies wide receiver Noah Thomas is the epitome of a red zone target with his 6-foot-6 frame. He was certainly Connor Weigman's favorite red zone target before he suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 4, as four of Thomas's five touchdowns on the season came in the first two weeks when Weigman was under center. With Notre Dame likely using shut-down cornerback Benjamin Morrison (PFF's No. 2 returning cornerback who has the highest single-coverage grade among all Power Five corners) in shadow coverage on smaller receivers, look for new Aggies offensive coordinator Collin Klein to take advantage of Thomas's size often.

    Weigman might not be the biggest household name given he missed the majority of last season, but he still completed 68.9% of his passes for 979 yards and an 8-2 TD-INT ratio in the games he did play. But more impressively, he had the highest Total QBR (96.9) of any quarterback in the country through the first three games, even higher than eventual Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams (94.0) in that span.

    There is no reason Thomas should be the sixth-ranked Aggies player on the anytime touchdown odds leaderboard, even though Weigman’s Under of 1.5 passing touchdowns is juiced to -155.

    Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.

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