With real-life sports still in the midst of an extended time out, DraftKings continues to provide some great sports simulations to fill the void. Each day there are six Madden Streams with eight free contests to be a part of. You can play a single-game Showdown for each contest along with an all-day, six-game classic contest and a three-game late slate contest. Each simulation will be played out via an online Madden Stream using Madden 2020 with rosters and ratings from the end of the 2019-20 season. In this format, you can enjoy watching the game stream on the DraftKings YouTube channel, the DK Live app (download here) or right here in this post. Follow along to watch your fantasy team pile up fantasy points.
Thursday’s late slate is centered on the Game of the Week, which sets up to be a great matchup at 8 p.m. ET between the Saints and the Chiefs in virtual New Orleans. Before that, though, the slate will lock with the 6 p.m. ET kickoff between the Titans and the Rams, two teams that would be on the edge of the playoff race given their performances so far in these sims. The slate and the full day of action closes out with Madden After Dark at 10 p.m. ET, when the Cowboys will visit the Eagles in an NFC East showdown.
With those six teams providing good options across the board, there are lots of ways to assemble your squad. I’ll give you my favorite plays at each position and price point for this slate below. For more information, check out the Madden info page for all the data on player ratings, special abilities and what you can look forward to coming soon.
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Quarterback
Stud
Drew Brees, NO vs. KC, $7,800 — Brees and the Saints knocked off the Chiefs 33-32 in a thrilling matchup in their first meeting, and now they’ll get to host Kansas City at the virtual Superdome, where they have gone 12-6 in these sims. In that previous matchup, Brees threw four touchdown strikes and finished with 360 yards and 32.5 DKFP. He has piled up an impressive 70 touchdowns in his 35 sims with just seven interceptions and an average of 250.3 yards per contest. He doesn’t have the rushing potential of the elite QBs for fantasy in Madden, but he has been very reliable and effective and his matchup and consistency make him my favorite option on this slate.
Other Option — Patrick Mahomes ($8,100)
Value
Dak Prescott, DAL at PHI, $6,500 — The Cowboys and Eagles’ previous matchup was on the other end of the scoring spectrum, as Dallas eked out a 7-6 win over the Eagles in their very first sim. With settings adjustments and both teams playing well since then, we should get more offense in this rematch. Prescott does offer some rushing potential and is averaging 45.1 rushing yards per game to go with 171.3 passing yards per game and a total of 54 touchdowns (47 passing, seven rushing). Prescott has over 15 DKFP in four of his past five games to raise his average to 17.8 DKFP per sim. His rushing potential gives him a high ceiling and a high floor, so give him a look if you’re not paying up for one of the star QBs in the Chiefs-Saints showdown.
Other Option — Ryan Tannehill ($6,400)
Running Back
Stud
Ezekiel Elliott, DAL at PHI, $6,900 — Zeke has been the class of this RB group on this slate. He is averaging a very solid 16.2 DKFP per sim and has over 100 yards and 20 DKFP each of his past two games. He has averaged 79.0 rushing yards and 13.0 receiving yards per sim and scored 26 touchdowns in his 35 sims. Zeke had a solid 12.4 DKFP in his first meeting with the Eagles, which was when we were not in arcade mode and had shorter quarters. He should be able to improve on that showing enough to be worth paying up for on this slate.
Other Options — Alvin Kamara ($6,700), Damien Williams ($6,000)
Value
Miles Sanders, PHI vs DAL, $5,100 — Like Zeke, Sanders handles almost all the work in the backfield and boosts his value with involvement as a receiver. He has six receiving touchdowns to go with his 15 rushing scores and is averaging 70.4 rushing yards and 17.2 receiving yards per sim. He has shown a monster ceiling when he goes off for multiple scores and is fairly reliable since the PPR points help him avoid total busts. The Dallas defense has been very good in these sims, but their strong secondary may actually help Sanders be more busy if the offense is forced to rely on running and short passes.
Other Option — Dion Lewis ($3,600)
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Wide Receiver
Stud
Tyreek Hill, KC at NO, $7,700 — Two of the top WRs in Madden go head-to-head in our Game of the Week and Hill and Michael Thomas ($8,000) both had monster games in their last meeting. If you’re only going to play one, I’d lean towards Hill for the slight savings and super-high ceiling. His 99 speed rating gives him the potential to go off in any matchup and he has been going off quite frequently lately. He had 167 yards, three touchdowns and 46.4 DKFP against the Ravens in his most recent sim and has over 75 yards in three straight and seven of his past nine sims. He’s averaging 77.9 yards per sim and has hauled in 27 touchdowns in 35 contests. He’s impossible to cover with his blazing speed rating, and the Chiefs should look to take advantage of his mismatch against the Saints’ secondary.
Other Options — Michael Thomas ($8,000), A.J. Brown ($5,600)
Value
Ted Ginn Jr., NO vs. CAR, $4,800 — Ginn has been very good in these sims as the WR2 across from Thomas. He has averaged 3.9 catches for 52.3 yards per sim and scored 19 touchdowns. He had a slow game against Houston in his most recent sim but tore up the Ravens for 86 yards and 14.3 DKFP in his previous contest. He has double-digit DKFP in eight of his past 10 sims, which is all he needs to do to return value at this salary.
Corey Davis, TEN at LAR, $4,100 — Davis was inconsistent early in these sims but has been playing very well lately with at least four catches in seven straight sims dating back to a 10-catch, 25.7-DKFP performance against the Eagles. He has scored 12 touchdowns and has at least one catch in every contest while averaging 3.9 receptions and 55.4 yards per sim. He had six catches for 97 yards, a touchdown and 21.7 DKFP in his first matchup against the Rams, and he has a very nice ceiling for such an affordable play.
Other Options — Sammy Watkins ($4,600), Adam Humphries ($3,700)
Tight End
Stud
Jared Cook, NO vs. KC, $5,000 — There are so many great options at TE that you may want to consider using your flex spot to double-up on two of the options. Cook could easily be overlooked in the Saints’ bevy of options, but Brees has locked in on him regularly and keeps him very involved. He has at least five catches in five straight games and eight of his past nine. He has touchdowns in three straight and has produced over 18 DKFP in each of those contests and 14 of his 35 sims (40%). He had six catches for 105 yards, no touchdowns and 19.5 DKFP in his first game against the Chiefs, showing it’s a matchup he can take advantage of once again.
Other Options — Travis Kelce ($6,200), Zach Ertz ($5,700)
Value
Delanie Walker, TEN at LAR, $4,800 — Walker is a little more boom-or-bust than those three elite options at the top of the salary structure, but his ceiling is very impressive. He had 13 catches for 143 yards, a touchdown and 35.3 DKFP against the Vikings a few sims ago and was even better with 42.5 DKFP against the Browns a few sims before that. He could go off against the Rams as well depending on gameflow and volume. He’s a higher risk play, but the upside is enormous.
Other Option — Jason Witten ($4,200)
DST
Stud
Cowboys DST at PHI, $3,000 — Dallas has at least 6.0 DKFP in five straight sims and posted 18 DKFP in their first meeting with the Eagles. They have piled up 57 sacks in their 35 sims to go with 25 takeaways, three safeties and five defensive touchdowns. They still have not allowed more than 27 points in any sim, which is the best of any defense in these sims. They should be a solid option against the Eagles.
Value
Titans DST at LAR, $2,200 — The only team in Madden with more safeties than the Cowboys is the Titans, who have stacked up four of them in their 35 sims to go with 76 sacks, 11 takeaways and a pair of defensive TDs. They don’t have as many big-name playmakers as some of the other options on this slate, but they have averaged 4.8 DKFP per sim, second only to Dallas’s production on this slate. They’re also the cheapest option on the slate, so even if they don’t give you much, they provide you financial flexibility elsewhere.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Z.Thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.