Taylor
RB · IND vs WAS
Proj pts
28.4pts
market
Jones
RB · MIN vs MIA
Proj pts
22.8pts
market
Aaron Jones or Jonathan Taylor: who should I start in Week 4?
Start Jonathan Taylor. Bench Aaron Jones. Jonathan Taylor leads at 28.4. Aaron Jones is the first one out, 5.6 short.
Crowd: started Taylor 99% · Jones 73%
Highlights
Pros
- Clear start5.6 pts clear
- Bell-cow role46% of touches
- Goal-line back1.4 GL carries/g
Pros
- Run-funnel matchupRun-funnel vs RB
- Positive game scriptFavored
- Spike upside26.4 ceiling
Cons
- Below your start line5.6 pts short
- Committee back23% of touches
Some recent form, opportunity and matchup figures still lean on the 2025 season (not enough games played this season yet).
Week 4 · Updated Tue 6:00 AM ET
Why Jonathan Taylor
Start Jonathan Taylor — projects 28.4, a run-funnel matchup vs WAS, with a rising role.
Jonathan Taylor projects 28.4 points on a 10.7–35.8 range. The matchup grades as run-funnel against WAS. Usage: carries / game at 19.0. Net: Jonathan Taylor is start this week.
Working for Taylor: Clear start (5.6 pts clear), Bell-cow role (46% of touches), Goal-line back (1.4 GL carries/g).
Where Taylor leads the head-to-head: Projection (28.4 vs 22.8); Floor (10.7 vs 9.6); Ceiling (35.8 vs 26.4); Touch share (46% vs 23%); Opportunity score (16.7 vs 11.9); Implied team total (25.5 vs 24.5); Last 3 avg (21.2 vs 11.6); Last 5 avg (17.4 vs 12.3); vs season (+2.0 vs +1.7); Boom rate (29% vs 25%); Bust rate (18% vs 25%); Carries / game (19.0 vs 11.0); Touches / game (21.7 vs 13.3); Opportunity score (exp pts) (16.7 vs 11.9); Yards per carry (4.9 vs 4.2); Snap share (83% vs 55%); Goal line carries (24 vs 3); Red zone carries (71 vs 14); Implied total (25.5 vs 24.5).
Why Aaron Jones
Sit Aaron Jones — projects 22.8, a run-funnel matchup vs MIA.
Aaron Jones projects 22.8 points on a 9.6–26.4 range. The matchup grades as run-funnel against MIA. Usage: carries / game at 11.0. Net: Aaron Jones is a bench this week.
Working for Jones: Run-funnel matchup (Run-funnel vs RB), Positive game script (Favored), Spike upside (26.4 ceiling).
Working against Jones: Below your start line (5.6 pts short), Committee back (23% of touches).
Where Jones leads the head-to-head: Consistency (56% vs 43%); Target share (14% vs 11%).
Recent form
Jonathan Taylor's last 5 games: PPR points 17.4, 5.9, 25.1, 29.2, 9.2 (oldest to newest).
Aaron Jones's last 5 games: PPR points 11.3, 15.3, 10, 10.5, 14.2 (oldest to newest).
Taylor has already beaten Jones's 22.8 projection in 2 of his 5; Jones has beaten Taylor's 28.4 in 0 of his 5.
At least 1 of these 5 were played before the 2026 season — the card does not date them.
Matchup
Jonathan Taylor (IND) faces WAS, kickoff Sun 9:30 AM ET. The matchup is rated run-funnel. Betting line: implied team total 25.5, spread -3.5.
Aaron Jones (MIN) faces MIA, kickoff Sun 4:05 PM ET. The matchup is rated run-funnel. Betting line: implied team total 24.5, spread -10.5.
What flips it
Taylor's edge is 5.6 points (28.4 to 22.8). Taylor's floor (10.7) sits under Jones's projection, so a quiet game from Taylor flips it. Confidence in the call: high.
How to read these numbers
- Confidence in the call
- How clear-cut this start/sit call is — how decisively the player beats the alternative he competes with (for a starter, the best player on your bench; for a bench player, the last one in your lineup), on both projected points and the overlap of their likely ranges. A clear play reads high; a genuine toss-up reads lower. It rates the decision, not the player’s own volatility, and is not a measured accuracy rate.
- Floor
- The 20th percentile of the same simulated distribution.
- Ceiling
- The 90th percentile of the same simulated distribution.
- Opportunity score
- Expected points from projected volume alone, before any efficiency of this player’s own: each projected touch and target valued at the positional average for the scoring format.
- Matchup grade
- The opponent’s points allowed to this position per game, weighted toward recent games, then graded on a curve across the 32 defenses.
- Implied team total
- The points the betting market expects this team to score, derived from the game total and the spread. Market-derived, not modelled by Nuvela.
- Trend
- The direction of his scoring across the trailing window, classified as heating, steady or cooling.
- Touch share trend
- The same classification, measured on his share of team touches rather than on his points.
- Consistency
- The share of his games that landed within a set band of his own per-game average.
- Boom rate
- The share of his games that finished inside the top 12 scorers at his position for that week.
- Bust rate
- The share of his games that came in under half of what he was projected for that week.
- Vacated touches
- Carries and targets belonging to team-mates who are ruled out, on IR, or listed as non-participants for this week, taken at their recent per-game rate.
- Defense funnel
- Whether the opponent’s rush defense and pass defense are far enough apart to push offenses one way. A gap inside the band reads Neutral.
- Game script projection
- The expected state of the game for his team — favoured, level or trailing — taken from the closing spread.
More start/sit comparisons from this week's PPR projections. Open a pair for the call and the reasoning.