The final day of March is another wild weather Wednesday on the DraftKings Dream Stream, meaning there will be weather conditions activated for all six Madden 21 sims throughout the day. You can find the specific conditions and upcoming schedule on the Madden Streams Information Page, as always. The featured classic slate kicks off in a rainstorm in Florida as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers welcome in the San Francisco 49ers at 6:00 p.m. ET. In primetime at 8:00 p.m. ET, it’s an AFC Divisional Round rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Browns, but this time the matchup will take place in Cleveland and in the snow. Madden After Dark has more snow in the forecast as the Denver Broncos travel to virtual Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears.
As in all of these Madden 21 sims, it’s important to know that each roster is not impacted by COVID-19 opt-outs, injuries, suspensions or illness and that the highest-rated options have been placed at the top of the depth charts. The roster for each team includes all player movement that occurred prior to Week 1 of the 2020-21 season and uses the Madden 21 ratings from Week 1 of this season.
For more details, you can find the game settings, depth charts, abilities and X-factors for each team in Madden 21 on the Madden Stream info page, where you can also find links to the depth charts of each team.
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Quarterback
Stud
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns, $7,600 — Mahomes has been outstanding in these sims, averaging 24.7 DKFP per contest, and he shouldn’t be too adversely impacted by the weather since his 97 throw power rating can help him overcome the elements. He has averaged 284.7 passing yards per sim over his 69 contests while throwing an insane 173 touchdown passes and adding 14 more scores on the ground. Mahomes had a disappointing performance against the Bucs in his most recent sim, finishing with just 9.3 DKFP, but he lit up the Browns for 38.26 DKFP on 349 yards and five total touchdowns in their only previous Madden 21 meeting. Even with the snow, he should be set up for a big bounceback against Cleveland’s lowly rated secondary, so pay up for him if you can make his hefty salary work with the rest of your priority plays.
Value
Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears vs. Denver Broncos, $6,900 — Trubisky usually does well in bad weather sims as well since he is such a scrambling option in these Madden sims. Trubisky ran for 110 yards in his most recent sim, finishing with 24.28 DKFP in a loss to the Eagles. He is averaging 20.6 DKFP per contest on 64.1 rushing yards and 190.2 passing yards, with a total of 92 touchdowns in 60 sims. Trubisky gets a good matchup at home in the snow, and it will be the fourth time in Madden 21 he has faced the Broncos. He posted 17.54, 25.12 and 19.64 DKFP in their three earlier meetings and is a relatively safe play in this rematch since there are multiple ways he can get fantasy points as the focus of the Bears’ offense.
Other Option — Baker Mayfield ($6,500), Jimmy Garoppolo ($5,600)
Running Back
Stud
Raheem Mostert, San Francisco 49ers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, $8,000 — Mostert is the most expensive RB on the slate by a wide margin and is really the only elite option on the board for this slate. He has a tough matchup against a stout Bucs run defense, but the rain usually leads the 49ers to give him even more work in their game plan. Mostert has been the focus of the offense and contributed great numbers as both a rusher and receiver in Madden 21, averaging 83.0 rushing yards and 3.2 catches for 27.2 receiving yards while totaling 60 touchdowns in 60 sims. He had 14.8 DKFP in his first matchup with Tampa Bay and was held to just one catch. He should haul in more receptions in the rematch due to the weather forcing Jimmy G to check down more often. Mostert is a pricey play, but he’s also one who could deliver a slate-breaking performance especially with extra work likely coming his way.
Other Options — Clyde Edwards-Helaire ($6,700)
Value
Kareem Hunt, Cleveland Browns vs. Kansas City Chiefs, $4,200 — With high-priced players in other spots to pay up for, RB is a great place to save some salary, especially since four of the six teams on this slate use a timeshare. While Nick Chubb ($5,700) is the Browns’ RB1 and has strong ratings, Hunt has been regularly involved for the Browns as the third-down back. He had six catches for 55 yards and 12.7 DKFP in his first matchup with his former team in Madden 21 and is coming off a monster 30.0-DKFP performance in his most recent sim. In that game, he scored two rushing touchdowns and had seven catches against the Cowboys, raising his total to 11 touchdowns on the season to go with his averages of 3.3 catches and 25.5 receiving yards per sim. He can be boom-or-bust based on usage but has a great ceiling at barely over $4K.
Melvin Gordon III, Denver Broncos at Chicago Bears, $4,000 — Gordon shares time in the Broncos’ backfield with Phillip Lindsay ($5,000) in these sims, but his role as the RB1 is significant enough that he makes a great play at $4K especially with the Broncos potentially looking to run the ball more due to the snow. Gordon had a huge game on Monday against the Panthers, running for 107 yards and a touchdown while adding a second score as a receiver on his way to 28.3 DKFP. Gordon now has over 11 DKFP in four of his past eight sims, and he’ll be a great value if he gets into that neighborhood in this game against the Bears. He comes with more risk than a receiving back who has the PPR safety net, but like Hunt, Gordon has very nice upside for a play at only $4K.
Other Options — Tarik Cohen ($5,200), LeSean McCoy ($4,500)
Wide Receiver
Stud
Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns, $7,300 — Having the only QB with a perfect 99 overall rating in Mahomes paired with the only WR with a perfect 99 speed rating has turned Hill into a cheat code in these sims. He is averaging 21.8 DKFP per sim on 6.2 catches for 90.9 yards per sim, and he has totaled 60 touchdowns in his 69 contests. Hill had one of those scores and 24.0 DKFP in his first matchup with the Browns’ secondary and should be able to bounce back from three straight games with under 13 DKFP with a big performance against them in this rematch. Hill has double-digit DKFP in 62 of his 69 contests (90%), and he has the highest ceiling of any WR in Madden 21, which he showed off with four touchdowns and 56.3 DKFP in a recent matchup against the Saints.
Other Option — Chris Godwin ($6,100)
Value
Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos at Chicago Bears, $5,400 — The Broncos raided the Bears’ secondary as part of their offseason upgrade in real life, but in this sim, Sutton will still be matched up with his now-teammate Kyle Fuller. Sutton has been good against the Bears in their past Madden 21 meetings, posting 14.8, 11.6 and 10.4 DKFP, including two of his 25 touchdowns in Madden 21. He has had some quiet games despite being the Broncos’ WR1, but the role also gives him a high ceiling and a chance to go off for huge games like the 41.8 DKFP he posted against the Packers four sims ago. Sutton comes with much more risk than Hill but offers enough upside to be a good midrange consideration if you have the salary to spend.
Scotty Miller, Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. San Francisco 49ers, $3,700 — Miller remains extremely affordable even though he continues to produce as the Bucs’ WR3 since these Week 1 rosters don’t include Antonio Brown on the Bucs. Miller has averaged exactly 3.0 catches per appearance for 42.4 receiving yards per game in his 56 Madden 21 sims. He had five catches for 58 yards and 10.8 DKFP in his first meeting with the 49ers and could be more involved in this matchup as well if San Francisco chooses to have X-factor Superstar CB Richard Sherman focus on shutting down either Chris Godwin ($6,100) or Mike Evans ($6,000), leaving Miller in more favorable matchups on the other side of the field.
Other Options — Deebo Samuel ($5,200), Kendrick Bourne ($4,800), Demarcus Robinson ($4,200), Jerry Jeudy ($4,100), KJ Hamler ($3,800)
Tight End
Stud
Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns, $5,800 — Ultimately in their playoff matchup, the Browns had no answers for Kelce, and that has often been the way things have played out in simland as well. Kelce had 16.7 DKFP with a touchdown in his first Madden 21 meeting with Cleveland and has totaled an impressive 41 scores in his 69 sims. He has averaged 5.8 catches for 67.3 yards per sim, showing he can still be a productive PPR option even with Hill absorbing so many targets on the outside. Kelce has at least three catches in all but one of his 69 sims, so he’s a very low-risk play especially with his salary dipping under $6K.
Other Option — Rob Gronkowski ($5,000)
Value
Noah Fant, Denver Broncos at Chicago Bears, $4,100 — Like his teammate Sutton, Fant has had some down games when Drew Lock ($5,300) looks lost at times in these sims, but he has also shown enough upside to be a great value option at only $4K if you pass on Kelce for salary reasons or decide to go with a TE in the flex spot. Fant finished with at least four catches in each of his three earlier matchups with the Bears, producing 5.7, 16.0 and 15.2 DKFP. He has scored only nine touchdowns in his 59 sims, but two of those did come in those earlier three games against the Bears. He has a high ceiling since he’s one of the fastest TEs in Madden 21 and could get more work than usual if Lock has to keep his passes more over the middle in the snow.
Other Option — Austin Hooper ($4,300)
DST
Stud
49ers DST at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, $3,000 — Facing Tom Brady ($7,000) is usually not a great matchup for a DST, but the veteran QB has been inconsistent in these sims and especially struggled in weather games. San Francisco has multiple playmakers throughout its defense, which is fully healthy in these sims. In 60 sims, the 49ers have totaled 130 sacks to go with 25 takeaways and three defensive touchdowns. They had an interception in their first matchup against Brady and come into this rematch riding a streak of five straight sims with multiple sacks, averaging 3.8 sacks and 7.0 DKFP per contest over that stretch.
Value
Chiefs DST at Cleveland Browns, $2,500 — Lately, the Chiefs’ defense has been letting them down in these sims, resulting in three straight losses to the Cardinals, Jets and Bucs. However, they are still a very highly-rated group with a strong pass rush and playmakers in the secondary. They have bottomed out to the lowest-priced unit available on this slate after posting no more than 3.0 DKFP in seven straight sims, but they did show much more potential earlier in these Madden 21 contests, which is how they are still averaging a pretty solid 4.1 DKFP per sim. Against the Browns in the snow, they definitely have the potential to bounce back and be worth much more than this minimal salary.
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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.