NFL player prop: Partial to a pair of pass-catchers

Two quarterbacks who weren’t even on an NFL roster at the start of the season are set to square off on Thursday night. Journeyman Trevor Siemian became the Jets’ fourth starting signal-caller last week and earned a victory over the Commanders. Meanwhile, Joe Flacco won his third straight for the Browns, the team whose practice squad he joined in November after New York failed to re-sign him — even in the wake of Aaron Rodgers’ opening-day Achilles tear. But it’s the top targets in this game who get our support for preferred prop:

The bet: Over 9½ combined receptions for wide receivers Amari Cooper and Garrett Wilson (BetMGM)

When these teams met in Week 2 last season, Flacco threw four touchdown passes to deliver a 31-30 victory — for the Jets. Two of those scores went to Wilson, who drew 14 targets and caught eight of them for 102 yards.

On the other side, Cooper feasted as well. He made nine receptions on 10 passes from Jacoby Brissett, finishing with 101 yards and a touchdown. Although his questionable tag for tonight arouses some concern, Cooper is hopeful about playing following an 11-catch performance in which he set Cleveland’s single-game record for receiving yards with 265.

The Browns and Jets field the two best pass defenses in the league, allowing respective averages of 160 and 169 yards per game. Getting chunk plays against them is going to be difficult, but the quarterbacks will look to force-feed their best receivers with throws near the line of scrimmage.

Since Cooper and Wilson totaled 17 catches in their previous head-to-head matchup and have each cleared this number individually, combining for 10 should be easy enough.