Thursday's one-game Madden showdown pits CIN against SEA, with the slate locking at 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT). The format has a captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary, and lineups work under a $50,000 cap.
The top of our model's board is all CIN. Joe Burrow costs $10,400 with a ceiling of 45.7, the highest on the sheet by a wide margin, against a DraftKings average of 24.0. Ja'Marr Chase sits at $10,200 with a 34.5 ceiling and a 16.9 average. Chase Brown at $8,600 carries a 29.4 ceiling and a 15.3 average, and as the captain in our top lineup he costs $12,900.
The value plays are where this slate can be won. Rashid Shaheed of SEA is just $4,400 but posts a 34.3 ceiling, nearly matching Chase's at less than half the price, with an 8.4 average. Mike Gesicki is $6,200 with a 30.1 ceiling, and Andrei Iosivas is $6,400 with a 27.5 ceiling and a 13.5 average. Those numbers give a lineup room to afford Burrow without running out of cap.
The crowd will pile onto the quarterbacks. Burrow is projected at 68% ownership and Sam Darnold at 54%, with Zach Charbonnet next at 48%. Chase checks in at 47% and Gesicki at 32%. Shaheed, at 18%, is the cheapest way to separate from the field, and Brown at 30% is lightly owned for a captain candidate.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,900 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Chase Brown at captain for $12,900, then fills the flex spots with Burrow at $10,400, Darnold at $9,400, Cooper Kupp at $6,600, Gesicki at $6,200 and Shaheed at $4,400. That build pairs the chalk quarterbacks with a low-owned captain and a cheap upside piece in Shaheed.
Lineups lock at 12:00 p.m. ET on Thursday 10/29, so get edits in before then.
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