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The Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals will face off in a Madden sim Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. ET. We break down the ideal Showdown lineup strategy for the DFS contest that will be played in the snow. You can set your lineup and play in the DraftKings contest before kickoff.
Captain’s Pick
Lamar Jackson ($18,000)
On another day, in another Madden simulation, in another time period, sure, maybe I wouldn’t play Lamar Jackson at Captain. And maybe in that world, spiders have human legs and ears and arms! Wait, what? In this world, we play Jackson at Captain. He’s a RB1 rolled into a QB and even if he doesn’t get it done through the air, his legs can carry him. Especially in this matchup. The Bengals defense is poor and Jackson could have a field day.
Fade of the Game
Marquise Brown ($13,800)
Even if Jackson has an OK game through the air, I’m worried about paying this much for Hollywood. It’s more Hollywood pricing and “The Valley” type of production. Brown has had games in double figures for DKFP but most of the time the production isn’t there. He’s very TD dependent, which isn’t a great formula for success in sim land.
Value Picks
John Ross III ($5,800) — A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd are priced up but Ross has been the better play overall in sim land. He’s just as productive as Boyd in most sims and has a good enough ceiling to compete with Green. The matchup isn’t great, but I like the leverage on the Bengals and the Ravens defense isn’t very elite in Madden.
Giovani Bernard ($3,400) — I write a lot of these articles and make a lot of value picks. Most of the picks are running backs with receiving upside. It’s a pretty easy way to get value in any of these contests. Bernard should get a few looks in the passing game and those PPR receptions are big.