The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams are not just playing the second game of the NFL season on Thursday night, but they’re also involved in the first-ever regular-season game in Australia. It’s one of four games on the Week 1 slate with a projected total of at least 48.5 points, which means there is likely some value to be had from a touchdown-scorer perspective. Let’s look at some players that could impact this game by finding the end zone tonight. Here are our top NFL Thursday Night Football TD scorer picks for 49ers vs. Rams.
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NFL Thursday Night Football TD Scorers Picks: 49ers vs. Rams
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Puka Nacua First Touchdown Scorer (+800)
Matthew Stafford’s 46 passing touchdowns last season were a Rams single-season record. It was also the third-most passing touchdowns by a quarterback in a season with fewer than 10 interceptions.
Puka Nacua’s 1,806 yards after the catch are the third-most of any player since his rookie season in 2023. In that span, he has also hauled in 32.4% of his team’s receiving yards (including the playoffs), the highest in the NFL.
With fellow receiver Davante Adams on the wrong side of his prime and likely to show diminishing physical skills, 8-1 odds on one of the most dominant receivers to score first are great odds.
Mike Evans Anytime Touchdown Scorer (+175)
San Francisco could not run the ball against the Rams last season. It’s 2.7 yards per rush in the two games against their divisional rival was their lowest total against a single opponent all season. While Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald is not making the trip to Australia, I can’t trust a 49ers rushing offense that ranked 30th in yards per rush and 24th overall in rushing yards a year ago.
The 49ers are already thin at wide receiver with Ricky Pearsall out for the season and Christian Kirk on injured reserve (IR). Rookie De’Zhaun Stribling isn’t even on the depth chart in 2-WR sets, according to reports. Also, it’s anyone’s guess how effective George Kittle will be and whether he will be on a snap count if he plays.
All of that adds up to Mike Evans having a big impact in his first game in a 49ers uniform, especially since he ranks second in receiving touchdowns among active players. In addition, his 182 end-zone targets since 2024 are 24 more than the next closest player.
Terrance Ferguson Anytime Touchdown Scorer (+400)
More about Matthew Stafford’s brilliant MVP season: He led the league in overall passing touchdowns, passing touchdowns when blitzed, against man coverage, off play-action and in 13 personnel. He also tied for the most passing touchdowns against zone coverage.
Terrance Ferguson had six catches of 25+ yards last season. That was the most by a Rams rookie tight end since 1991. You could do a lot worse at +400 odds than backing a player of this caliber catching passes from a reigning MVP.
Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.