Tuesday's Madden showdown on DraftKings is a single game, CAR @ NE, with a $50,000 cap and a captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary. The slate locks Tue 11/3 at 8:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. PT).
Our model ranks Drake Maye (NE) first at $11,000, with a ceiling of 33.1 and a DraftKings average of 17.4. Bryce Young (CAR) follows at $9,200 with a 28.1 ceiling and a 14.7 average, and Chuba Hubbard (CAR) is third at $8,800 with a 27.5 ceiling and a 13.6 average. A.J. Brown (NE) costs $10,200 and carries a 24.1 ceiling, a thinner upside for the price than the three names above him.
The value plays are where the ceilings get interesting. DeMario Douglas (NE) costs just $4,400 yet shows a 31.3 ceiling, higher than Young's or Hubbard's, against a DraftKings average of 6.6. Xavier Legette (CAR) is $4,600 with a 30.5 ceiling and a 6.0 average. Darren Waller (CAR) sits in the middle at $7,200 with a 24.4 ceiling and an 11.5 average. Cheap salaries with those ceilings are what let a lineup afford the expensive captain slot.
The crowd will pile onto the obvious names. Maye is projected at 67% ownership, Young at 54%, and Rhamondre Stevenson at 47%. A.J. Brown is projected at 47% as well, while Tetairoa McMillan comes in at 38% and Hubbard at 30%. Douglas at 18% and Legette at 13% are far less owned than their ceilings would suggest, which makes them natural differentiators.
Our model's top lineup uses the full $50,000. It captains Hubbard at $13,200, then fills the FLEX spots with McMillan ($9,800), Young ($9,200), Waller ($7,200), Jalen Coker ($6,200) and Douglas ($4,400). The build leans on CAR and passes on the chalk at quarterback for NE.
Lineups lock Tue 11/3 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
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