Looking for the best CFL Week 9 anytime touchdown scorer bets? We’ve identified three players with the strongest combination of matchup, workload, and scoring upside heading into this week’s slate. Whether it’s a featured running back expected to see heavy volume or a red-zone weapon facing a vulnerable defence, these are our top anytime touchdown scorer picks for CFL Week 9, complete with bet365‘s odds and analysis for each wager.
Brady Oliveira (-170)
This is a chalky TD pick this week, but with two backup quarterbacks set to square off in Thursday night’s clash between the BC Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, you can bet there will be a heavy emphasis on the run game on both sides.
Oliveira is coming off a monster game in Week 8 against Calgary, rushing for a whopping 128 yards and two touchdowns on just 14 carries. The Canadian running back has just three total touchdowns on the season, but he should be the focal point of Winnipeg’s offence again this week with starting quarterback Zach Collaros still injured and Dru Brown under centre.
BC’s defence is incredibly stout against the run, allowing an average of just 55 rushing yards per game (best in the league), but this game has the potential to get ugly and very lopsided in favour of the Bombers, especially with Kaidon Salters getting tabbed for his first CFL start at quarterback for the Lions. It could be a very long and tiring game for this BC defence, giving Oliveira the opportunity to run all over them in an attempt to control possession and the clock.
Oliveira to score a TD
Dedrick Mills (-115)
Saturday’s clash between the Calgary Stampeders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will pit the league’s best passing attack against the league’s top passing defence.
So, if you’re the Stampeders, a logical game plan would be to use the CFL’s top rusher, Dedrick Mills, to effectively run the ball against a Ticat defence giving up 100.6 yards per game, ranking just sixth in the league. Mills has found the end zone in back-to-back weeks and has 584 rushing yards for an average of 6.1 yards per carry this season.
If Calgary can establish its running game early in this contest, it will open up the passing game for Vernon Adams Jr., who has an efficient 20 passing touchdowns with zero interceptions this season, and the rest of Calgary’s receiving corps. Mills could also benefit from the passing game opening up, as he’s hauled in 15 catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns through seven games.
Mills to score a TD
Travis Theis (+110)
Friday’s matchup between the Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Redblacks has the highest game total on the board at 60.5 points, so there should be some offensive fireworks when Montreal’s high-octane offence clashes with Ottawa’s porous defence.
Theis has been a TD machine recently, finding the end zone in five straight weeks, while seeing his usage increase dramatically over the last two games. Theis rushed for 156 yards on 19 carries in Week 8 vs. Hamilton, setting a season high in yardage. He’s averaged a hearty 5.8 yards per carry this season, and he should continue to thrive in Montreal’s dynamic offence that also throws the ball very effectively.
Ottawa is allowing 426.2 net yards of offence per game, which is the second most in the league.
