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Another edition of Thursday Night Football is upon us. This week, the Jonathan Taylor-less Indianapolis Colts will travel to Mile High to face off against Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos in an AFC showdown.

With Taylor ruled out for the game, it’s created some valuable bets in the first touchdown scorer market. So, let’s target three players at big prices to score the first touchdown in Thursday night’s Broncos-Colts clash.

Mike Boone +1100

Mike Boone runs onto the field before a game.
Mike Boone of the Denver Broncos runs onto the field prior to a game against the Las Vegas Raiders | Michael Owens/Getty Images

With Javonte Williams now out for the season due to a torn ACL, Melvin Gordon will take over as the No. 1 running back in Denver. But who’s to say this won’t still be a running back by committee for the rest of the year?

Mike Boone has been in the NFL since 2017. He’s clearly shown enough to stick around in the league as a trusted backup, and I could see him splitting carries with Gordon Thursday night. It’s also hard to imagine the Broncos trusting Gordon to be a workhorse back considering he has four fumbles in four games this season.

It’s anyone’s guess as to who will line up in the backfield when the Broncos get inside the red zone, so I’ll take my chances on Boone at a juicer price.

Deon Jackson +2600

Unless you’re a die-hard Colts fan, you may have never heard the name Deon Jackson before. The 23-year-old has been buried on the depth chart behind Taylor and Nyheim Hines for two years, but we won’t be seeing Taylor on the field Thursday night due to an ankle injury.

Most people expect Hines to take over as the every-down running back this week, and he easily could, but I’m not so convinced. Hines thrives as a pass-catching option on third downs, whereas Jackson is more of a downhill runner who lives inside the tackles.

Jackson impressed in the preseason last year with 19 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown. I could see him getting most of the short-yardage carries in this game, so let’s hope the Colts move the ball inside the five early and feed him up the middle.

Jelani Woods +3100

If there’s one thing we know about this Colts offense, it’s that Matt Ryan loves feeding his tight ends in the red zone. Ryan has thrown five touchdown passes through four games, and four of them went to his TEs.

Jelani Woods caught two of those touchdowns in Week 3, and I think he can add another one against the Broncos. At 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds, Woods is an unguardable weapon in the red zone. If Indianapolis doesn’t trust its backup running backs down by the goal line, we could see an early jump ball to Woods.

At 31/1, I’m all over it.

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Staff Writer

Jack Dougherty

Writing professionally since 2015, Jack Dougherty spent six years as a sportswriter with publications such as GoPSUSports.com, the Centre Daily Times, and the Associated Press before joining Sportscasting in 2020. He covers the NBA, the NFL, and the world of golf extensively and has added expertise on any team located in or around his hometown of Philadelphia. Yes, that includes the Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia 76ers, and Philadelphia Phillies.

When Jack isn’t writing about sports, he’s watching them or playing them as he regularly heads to the gym for some pickup basketball or the golf course to hit the links. He’s also an avid participant in the sports betting scene who worked at a casino sportsbook for a year and learned the ins and outs of the industry before bringing his expertise to Sportscasting with one excellent gambling recommendation after another.