Taylor
RB · IND vs WAS
Proj pts
28.4pts
market
Jeanty
RB · LV vs KC
Proj pts
22.6pts
market
Ashton Jeanty or Jonathan Taylor: who should I start in Week 4?
Start Jonathan Taylor. Bench Ashton Jeanty. Jonathan Taylor leads at 28.4. Ashton Jeanty is the first one out, 5.8 short.
Crowd: started Taylor 99% · Jeanty 97%
Highlights
Pros
- Clear start5.8 pts clear
- Bell-cow role46% of touches
- Goal-line back1.4 GL carries/g
Pros
- Bell-cow role45% of touches
- Spike upside29.3 ceiling
Cons
- Below your start line5.8 pts short
- Tough matchupTough · D vs RB
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 (5.8 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 22.6); Floor (10.7 vs 10.3); Ceiling (35.8 vs 29.3); Touch share (46% vs 45%); Opportunity score (16.7 vs 16.1); Matchup grade (recency weighted) (A- vs D); Implied team total (25.5 vs 21.5); Last 3 avg (21.2 vs 18.4); Last 5 avg (17.4 vs 15.6); vs season (+2.0 vs -0.5); Consistency (43% vs 42%); Boom rate (29% vs 18%); Carries / game (19.0 vs 15.6); Touches / game (21.7 vs 18.9); Opportunity score (exp pts) (16.7 vs 16.1); Yards per carry (4.9 vs 3.7); Snap share (83% vs 78%); Goal line carries (24 vs 11); Red zone carries (71 vs 35); Grade vs RB (recency weighted) (A- vs D); Implied total (25.5 vs 21.5).
Why Ashton Jeanty
Sit Ashton Jeanty — projects 22.6, a tough matchup vs KC, with a rising role.
Ashton Jeanty projects 22.6 points on a 10.3–29.3 range. The matchup grades as tough against KC. Usage: carries / game at 15.6. Net: Ashton Jeanty is a bench this week.
Working for Jeanty: Bell-cow role (45% of touches), Spike upside (29.3 ceiling).
Working against Jeanty: Below your start line (5.8 pts short), Tough matchup (Tough · D vs RB).
Where Jeanty leads the head-to-head: Target share (15% 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).
Ashton Jeanty's last 5 games: PPR points 10.3, 12.4, 32.7, 10.3, 12.3 (oldest to newest).
Taylor has already beaten Jeanty's 22.6 projection in 2 of his 5; Jeanty has beaten Taylor's 28.4 in 1 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.
Ashton Jeanty (LV) faces KC, kickoff Sun 4:25 PM ET. The matchup is rated tough. Betting line: implied team total 21.5, spread +4.5.
What flips it
Taylor's edge is 5.8 points (28.4 to 22.6). Jeanty's ceiling (29.3) clears Taylor's projection, so a big game from Jeanty flips it. Taylor's floor (10.7) sits under Jeanty's projection, so a quiet game from Taylor flips it too. 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.