Michael Thomas injury betting odds impact: Saints vs. Raiders Week 2 Vegas spread not yet affected

The Raiders will christen the $2 billion Allegiant Stadium in their Las Vegas debut Monday night against New Orleans, and Jon Gruden's team apparently will catch a major break with Saints superstar receiver Michael Thomas expected to sit it out. In fact, Thomas could miss several weeks with a high-ankle sprain suffered in a Week 1 win over the Bucs. Interestingly, not having Thomas has not cut the Saints' spread in this matchup, but in fact they have jumped from an open of -4.5 to -6 on the William Hill NFL odds.

Needless to say, that spread movement could simply mean early money is on the Saints after their impressive Week 1 victory and it could come back down. There are reports that New Orleans would like to put Thomas on injured reserve but Thomas is fighting that decision and in fact wants to play through it.

Thomas is one of the top five offensive players in the NFL not playing quarterback. Last year, the former second-round pick out of Ohio State set a league record with 149 catches and won the NFL receptions title for a second year. Thomas also won his first yardage title with a team-record 1,725 yards, the seventh-highest total in league history. His nine TDs tied for the team lead. Thomas' is Pro Football Focus' second highest-graded receiver since 2016 (93.5)

Against the Bucs in Week 1, though, Thomas wasn't much of a factor and he wasn't injured until his ankle got rolled up on by running back Alvin Kamara near the goal line late in the game. Thomas had only three catches for 17 yards (second-fewest of his career). Someone named Mike Thomas of the Cincinnati Bengals had has many Week 1 receiving yards.

SportsLine Fantasy expert Jacob Gibbs said this following Week 1: "(Green Bay receiver) Davante Adams' 38 percent target share coupled with Michael Thomas' ankle injury make Adams the favorite to lead the WR in Fantasy scoring in 2020."

Entering the season, William Hill had priced Thomas as the +500 favorite to lead the league in receiving yards again and the +550 leader to be tops in receiving TDs. "Neither ran up too many bets so nothing crazy liability-wise on either," said a William Hill spokesperson. If Thomas misses a few games on top of his meager Week 1 effort, he's not winning either title. 

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