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King of Props: Man in the middle

By John Dudley | Last updated 10/13/22

On the heels of a Thursday night yawner that saw the Colts and Broncos combine for seven field goals and zero touchdowns, we now get the 2-3 Bears hosting the 1-4 Commanders. Neither team has exceeded 90 points scored over the first five weeks, which must have Amazon Prime Video broadcasters Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit pinching themselves. With offensive fireworks unlikely again, we’re optimistic about hitting our top prop play:

The bet: Over 8½ tackles and assists for Bears linebacker Roquan Smith (DraftKings)

Since coming out of Georgia as the eighth overall pick in the 2018 draft, Smith has been a hitting machine in the mold of predecessors Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary, and Brian Urlacher. He has posted double-digit tackles 29 times in his 65 starts, including 17 against the run-heavy Ravens last year and 16 in the Bears’ Week 3 victory over the Texans.

Through Chicago’s five games of this season, Smith has played 100% of the defensive snaps and recorded 54 combined tackles, which is an average of 10.8 per game. He has surpassed this total in every contest but last week’s loss to the Vikings, when he fell one tackle short in Minnesota.

It’s important to note that this prop involves both solo tackles and assists. If Smith is at least partially responsible for bringing down the ballcarrier, he should be credited – and that determination will be made by the home statistician tonight, which never hurts.

Expect the pain to be inflicted by Chicago’s middle linebacker.

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