McCaffrey
RB · SF vs DEN
Proj pts
28.2pts
market
Love
RB · ARI vs NYG
Proj pts
22.4pts
market
Christian McCaffrey or Jeremiyah Love: who should I start in Week 4?
Start Christian McCaffrey. Bench Jeremiyah Love. Christian McCaffrey leads at 28.2. Jeremiyah Love is the first one out, 5.8 short.
Crowd: started McCaffrey 99% · Love 93%
Highlights
Pros
- Clear start5.8 pts clear
- Bell-cow role47% of touches
- Goal-line back1.2 GL carries/g
Cons
- Tough matchupTough · F vs RB
Pros
- Run-funnel matchupRun-funnel vs RB
- Big-play upside33% boom weeks
Cons
- Below your start line5.8 pts short
- Rotational snaps49% of snaps
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 Christian McCaffrey
Start Christian McCaffrey — projects 28.2, a tough matchup vs DEN, but the role is cooling.
Christian McCaffrey projects 28.2 points on a 17.2–31.0 range. The matchup grades as tough against DEN. Usage: carries / game at 18.3. Net: Christian McCaffrey is start this week.
Working for McCaffrey: Clear start (5.8 pts clear), Bell-cow role (47% of touches), Goal-line back (1.2 GL carries/g).
Working against McCaffrey: Tough matchup (Tough · F vs RB).
Where McCaffrey leads the head-to-head: Projection (28.2 vs 22.4); Touch share (47% vs 32%); Opportunity score (22.6 vs 14.5); Implied team total (25.3 vs 23.0); Last 3 avg (19.3 vs 14.1); Last 5 avg (19.8 vs 14.1); Consistency (68% vs 58%); Carries / game (18.3 vs 13.7); Touches / game (24.3 vs 17.0); Target share (23% vs 11%); Opportunity score (exp pts) (22.6 vs 14.5); Snap share (83% vs 49%); Goal line carries (21 vs 1); Red zone carries (80 vs 9); Implied total (25.3 vs 23.0).
Why Jeremiyah Love
Sit Jeremiyah Love — projects 22.4, a run-funnel matchup vs NYG.
Jeremiyah Love projects 22.4 points. The matchup grades as run-funnel against NYG. Usage: carries / game at 13.7. Net: Jeremiyah Love is a bench this week.
Working for Love: Run-funnel matchup (Run-funnel vs RB), Big-play upside (33% boom weeks).
Working against Love: Below your start line (5.8 pts short), Rotational snaps (49% of snaps).
Where Love leads the head-to-head: Matchup grade (recency weighted) (A vs F); vs season (+0.0 vs -3.0); Boom rate (33% vs 6%); Bust rate (0% vs 6%); Grade vs RB (recency weighted) (A vs F).
Recent form
Christian McCaffrey's last 5 games: PPR points 28.1, 12.7, 13.8, 22.6, 21.6 (oldest to newest).
Jeremiyah Love's last 3 games: PPR points 7.5, 13, 21.9 (low to high; the card does not say which came first).
McCaffrey has already beaten Love's 22.4 projection in 2 of his 5; Love has beaten McCaffrey's 28.2 in 0 of his 3.
At least 1 of these 5 were played before the 2026 season — the card does not date them.
Matchup
Christian McCaffrey (SF) faces DEN, kickoff Sun 4:25 PM ET. The matchup is rated tough. Betting line: implied team total 25.3, spread -3.0.
Jeremiyah Love (ARI) faces NYG, kickoff Sun 1:00 PM ET. The matchup is rated run-funnel. Betting line: implied team total 23.0, spread -1.5.
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.