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King of Props: Hypin’ the hyphen

By John Dudley | Last updated 9/24/22

Minnesota has opened the season with three absolutely dominant performances, beating New Mexico State, Western Illinois and Colorado by an average score of 50-6. The leading receiver for the Golden Gophers is wideout Chris Autman-Bell, who unfortunately suffered a leg injury in the last game and will miss the rest of the season. As it so happens, the next two pass catchers on the team are also hyphenates, and the bigger target deserves our backing against Michigan State:

The bet: Over 29½ receiving yards for Minnesota tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford (DraftKings)

When we opposed the Spartans secondary for last Saturday’s top prop, Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. promptly threw for 278 first-half yards to give us a winner at intermission. Returning to that well only makes sense in light of the recent developments.

Spann-Ford fell a yard short of going over this total in the opener but has exceeded it in his two outings since. Dating back to last season, he has actually averaged 51 receiving yards over his past five games. That stat alone gives the bet great value — and now he’ll have an expanded role.

As mentioned a week ago, the Michigan State pass defense allowed a staggering 325 yards per game last season. Minnesota QB Tanner Morgan is nearly as capable of exploiting it as Penix was, and a number of his passes figure to be sent to the huge catch radius of the 6-7 Spann-Ford.

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