The 2026-27 NFL season kicks off on Wednesday, September 9, when the Seattle Seahawks host the New England Patriots, and one of the most popular prop bets for any NFL game, especially opening night, is touchdowns.
Below, I have three players I think will score touchdowns, including one that I’m eyeing as the first touchdown scorer.
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NFL Wednesday Night Football TD Scorer Picks
(Odds Courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Rhamondre Stevenson Anytime TD (+100)
As we approach Week 1 and opening night, Stevenson's fellow Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson has yet to practice. He’s dealing with an ankle injury, and right now, it’s looking highly unlikely he’ll suit up. This comes after reports this offseason that Henderson was struggling with pass protection and third-down work anyway, so Stevenson appeared to already be in line for a bigger role in this two-headed backfield.
Without Henderson in the lineup, Stevenson is in a fantastic spot because of the potential touches. Last season, he caught 32 passes. So, even though he only had 130 carries, he still had plenty of involvement in the passing game.
Before Henderson started to get going more in Week 9 last season, Stevenson did have problems with efficiency. Still, he had four games with double-digit carries, and now, heading into this season, there isn’t a lot of competition behind him.
I’m not sure what the final yards per carry average will be, but with the potential for up to 20 touches, I’ll take the chance on an anytime touchdown.
Jadarian Price First TD (+650) / Anytime TD (+125)
I like Price to score a touchdown in this game, and I’m willing to take a chance on him as the first touchdown scorer. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, I’m even more confident about an anytime touchdown.
I believe the Seahawks win this game at home, and they’ll be ahead for a good chunk of the game. I don’t expect a Super Bowl 60-type demolition, but I do believe that being at home will be huge for this team.
First, let’s talk about quarterback Sam Darnold. Yes, the Seahawks brutalized the Patriots in Super Bowl 60, but he really didn’t play well at all, completing just 50% of his passes for just over 200 yards.
Now, he has an explosive first-round rookie running back behind him that he can hand the ball off to and take some stress off of him, similar to what happened with Kenneth Walker III throughout the preseason.
Like Stevenson above, Price will benefit from the absence of another running back. Fellow Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet is starting the year on the PUP list, meaning Price should see the majority of carries. Now, unlike Stevenson, Price does have a fairly solid running back behind him in George Holani, but according to Andrew Destin of The Athletic, Holani will likely see most of the third-down work. That’s OK. I can live with that because Price’s explosiveness lets him break one off.
I’m looking forward to seeing Price in his first official NFL game.
A.J. Brown Anytime TD (+160)
In the Super Bowl 60 loss, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye put up nearly 300 yards playing from behind. Again, I don’t expect it to be the same type of game, but I do believe we’ll see Maye target his new WR1, A.J. Brown, plenty.
Over the last three seasons combined, Brown has had a 26.7% target share on the Eagles. He’s going to see a steady amount of targets no matter what offense he’s in. The Patriots do have Romeo Doubs there, too, who signed a solid deal, but Brown is the player I’m looking at in an offense where he could see a target share well over 20% and on a team that could potentially be trailing.
