Thursday's Madden showdown on DraftKings is a single game, TEN @ MIN, with a $50,000 cap and a captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary. The slate locks Thu 11/5 at 2:00 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. PT).
Our model ranks Kyler Murray (MIN) first at $10,800, with a ceiling of 32.5 against a DraftKings average of 17.4. That gap is the widest on the board. T.J. Hockenson (MIN) is next at $6,800, with a ceiling of 29.0 and an average of 10.8. Tony Pollard (TEN) at $9,800 and Cam Ward (TEN) at $9,200 round out the top four, with ceilings of 21.1 and 19.6. Justin Jefferson (MIN) costs $10,400 and carries a ceiling of 17.3.
The value case starts with Hockenson, whose 29.0 ceiling is the second highest on the sheet at a salary well below the other top plays. Will Reichard (MIN) is the cheapest name in our top eight at $4,400, with a ceiling of 14.3 and an average of 7.1, which makes him an easy way to save salary. Aaron Jones Sr. (MIN) at $8,600 has a ceiling of 16.6 and sits at only 30% projected ownership.
The crowd is heading to Murray at 67% projected ownership. Ward follows at 54%, with Pollard and Jefferson both at 47%. Hockenson is at 33% and Reichard at 28%, so both offer some separation from the field if you want to move off the most popular builds.
Our model's top lineup uses all $50,000 of the cap. It puts Murray in the captain slot at $16,200, then fills the FLEX spots with Jefferson at $10,400, Jordan Addison at $7,600, Hockenson at $6,800, Calvin Ridley at $4,600 and Reichard at $4,400. Lineups lock Thu 11/5 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
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