Tuesday night on the DraftKings Dream Stream, we’ll get Week 15 of the Madden simulated season underway with a three-game classic slate that starts at 6:00 p.m. ET and features three important divisional matchups. The first game from Week 15 should be a good one since the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers are each 7-6 this sim season and tied for first place in the AFC West. At 8:00 p.m. ET in primetime, the New York Giants host the Dallas Cowboys in an NFC East matchup, and we close out the day with the Jacksonville Jaguars welcoming in the Houston Texans at 10:00 p.m. ET on Madden After Dark.
As you build your lineups, be sure to consider the depth charts for each team. If you’re looking for gameplay details for these sims, along with the upcoming schedule, head over to the Madden Streams Information Page.
Quarterback
Stud
Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars, $7,900 — Fading Patrick Mahomes ($8,000) isn’t usually a successful strategy, but on this slate, I think Watson is a better play against the Jaguars than Mahomes is against the tough Chargers defense. Mahomes has been held under 20 DKFP in three of his four previous meetings with L.A., and Watson has produced over 25 DKFP in four of his six earlier meetings with Jacksonville. He had 28.98, 26.64, and 25.54 DKFP in their three most recent meetings, including a 27-17 win earlier this simulated season. Watson has also been hot lately with over 23 DKFP in six of his past eight sims, including three games with over 32 DKFP.
Other Options — Patrick Mahomes ($8,000)
Value
Daniel Jones, New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys, $6,100 — Jones has led his Giants to first place in the NFC East this sim season with multiple touchdown passes in 10 of his 12 most recent contests. He had 342 yards, three touchdowns and 27.98 DKFP in his first matchup with Dallas this season and has produced over 19 DKFP in three of his four contests against the Cowboys in Madden 21. He should be able to find mismatches against the Cowboys’ secondary and put up another solid stat line from this affordable salary.
Other Option — Gardner Minshew II ($6,000)
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Running Back
Stud
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys, $7,300 — Another huge reason that the Giants have had success is Barkley is 100% healthy in simland. He has scored seven rushing touchdowns over his past five sims with three games over 25 DKFP during that stretch. He also had 27.4 DKFP in his matchup with Dallas earlier this season on 120 rushing yards, a touchdown and three catches for 34 more yards. He produced an average of 18.6 DKFP in his four earlier matchups with the Cowboys in Madden 21 and is averaging 20.2 DKFP in his 90 sims overall. His consistent workload, recent form and favorable matchup make him my favorite of the three stud RBs in play on this slate.
Other Option — Ezekiel Elliott ($7,700), Austin Ekeler ($7,400)
Value
Duke Johnson, Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars, $4,200 — The Texans are the only team on the slate that uses a timeshare in the backfield with Duke Johnson serving as their third-down back behind RB1 David Johnson ($4,700). Duke has at least 7.9 DKFP in three straight sims and has usually been involved in earlier matchups against Jacksonville. He has over 7.0 DKFP in four of his five games in this role against the Jags and is a solid salary saver at RB if you can’t pay up for two full-time options.
Other Option — Chris Thompson ($6,100)
Wide Receiver
Stud
Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers, $7,200 — Even in a less-than-perfect matchup, Hill has been way too good to pass up. The Cheetah has used his 99 speed rating to be the top WR in Madden 21 by averaging 6.3 catches for 94.2 yards per sim and scoring 96 touchdowns in his 101 Madden 21 sims. His average of 22.8 DKFP per game is a full 6.0 DKFP higher than any other average posted by a WR on this slate. On a points-per-dollar basis, this salary seems low compared to other WRs, and he definitely can break the slate despite the matchup, which he showed by dropping 33.6 DKFP in a low-scoring 13-10 matchup with the Chargers earlier this sim season.
Other Options — Amari Cooper ($6,500), Keenan Allen ($5,300)
Value
Michael Gallup, Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants, $5,400 — Gallup has been fairly reliable this sim season with double-digit DKFP in 12 of his past 16 sims overall. He had 10.2 DKFP against the Giants during that run and is averaging 11.6 DKFP in their four contests in Madden 21.
Darius Slayton, New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys, $4,400 — For some reason, Slayton is a matchup nightmare for the Cowboys. He had two touchdowns and 31.1 DKFP against Dallas earlier this sim season after catching three touchdowns on his way to 38.7 DKFP in an earlier meeting. Six of his 32 touchdowns in Madden 21 have come in his four games against the Cowboys, and he should be heavily targeted again in this rematch.
Other Options — Brandin Cooks ($5,100), Dede Westbrook ($4,800), Demarcus Robinson ($4,100)
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Tight End
Stud
Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers, $5,500 — Kelce has been the most consistently involved TE in Madden 21, averaging 5.6 catches for 66.1 yards per sim. He has also scored 51 touchdowns in his 101 sims including two in his previous four games against the Chargers, with at least seven catches in three of those four meetings. He brings plenty of big-play potential to go with his unmatched reliability.
Other Option — Evan Engram ($5,400)
Value
Tyler Eifert, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans, $3,900 — The Texans’ secondary has been a favorable matchup throughout Madden 21 and Eifert produced 16.0 DKFP against them in their most recent meeting. The veteran TE has multiple catches in 23 straight sims and is a great way to lock in cheap production at TE or flex for under $4K.
Other Options — Darren Fells ($4,200), Hunter Henry ($4,000)
DST
Stud
Chargers DST vs. Kansas City Chiefs, $3,000 — The Chargers are averaging 6.0 DKFP per sim, and no other defense on this slate is averaging more than 4.2 DKFP. Even in this brutal matchup against the Chiefs, the Chargers are an option to consider paying up for since they did have 9.0 DKFP against Kansas City in their meeting earlier this sim season. Overall, in 94 sims, the Chargers have 84 takeaways, 206 sacks and six defensive touchdowns.
Value
Cowboys DST at New York Giants, $2,700 — The Cowboys have multiple sacks and at least 4.0 DKFP in four straight sims. If you don’t want to go up against the Chiefs, they’re a solid alternative, even though they don’t have quite as high a ceiling as the Chargers offer.
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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.