Thursday's Madden showdown is a single game, CAR @ DAL, and it locks at 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT). The format uses a captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary, with a $50,000 cap.
At the top of our model's board, Dak Prescott ($10,800) carries a ceiling of 37.7, the highest of any player on the sheet, against a DraftKings average of 20.2. Javonte Williams ($11,200) has a ceiling of 32.0 and the best DraftKings average of the group at 20.9. Bryce Young ($10,000) posts a 30.6 ceiling, and CeeDee Lamb ($9,200) sits at 28.9. All four are the priciest pieces on the slate, so the question is how much of the cap you want tied up in them.
The value end is where this slate gets interesting. Xavier Legette costs just $4,600 and has a 30.5 ceiling, though his DraftKings average is only 6.3, so he is a boom-or-bust piece. Darren Waller ($7,000, ceiling 28.0) and Chuba Hubbard ($8,200, ceiling 27.7) offer upside at mid-range prices, while Jalen Coker ($6,200, ceiling 22.1) averages 9.8 on DraftKings.
The crowd is leaning hard on the quarterbacks and the DAL backfield. Prescott is projected at 67% ownership, Young at 54%, and Williams at 47%. Lamb also sits at 47%. Legette at 18% and Coker at 24% are the lower-owned routes if you want to separate from the field.
Our model's top lineup uses CPT Bryce Young at $15,000, with Tetairoa McMillan ($8,600), Hubbard ($8,200), Waller ($7,000), Coker ($6,200) and Brandon Aubrey ($4,200) in the FLEX spots. It totals $49,200 of the $50,000 cap and is built heavily around CAR.
Get your lineups set before the 12:00 p.m. ET lock on Thursday.
Follow @numeric_dfs on X.