Johnson
RB · KC vs LV
Proj pts
8.5pts
market
Perine
RB · CIN vs JAX
Proj pts
8.2pts
market
Emmett Johnson or Samaje Perine: who should I start in Week 4?
Start Emmett Johnson. Bench Samaje Perine. Emmett Johnson leads at 8.5. Samaje Perine is the first one out, 0.3 short.
Availability & news
Emmett Johnson
Johnson carried the ball six times for 17 yards and returned one kickoff for 31 yards in Kansas City's 24-10 win over the Dolphins on Sunday.(rotowire, Sep 29, 2026)
Samaje Perine
Perine turned three carries into nine yards and caught one pass on three targets for five yards during the Bengals' 30-27 loss to the Steelers on Sunday. He also returned one kickoff for 26 yards.(rotowire, Sep 29, 2026)
Highlights
Pros
- Positive game scriptFavored
- Big-play upside50% boom weeks
Cons
- Committee back13% of touches
- Boom-or-bust50% bust weeks
Pros
- High-scoring spot27.0 team total
Cons
- Committee back13% of touches
- 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 Emmett Johnson
Start Emmett Johnson — projects 8.5, an even matchup vs LV.
Emmett Johnson projects 8.5 points. The matchup grades as neutral against LV. Usage: carries / game at 5.3. Net: Emmett Johnson is start this week.
Working for Johnson: Positive game script (Favored), Big-play upside (50% boom weeks).
Working against Johnson: Committee back (13% of touches), Boom-or-bust (50% bust weeks).
Where Johnson leads the head-to-head: Projection (8.5 vs 8.2); Matchup grade (recency weighted) (B vs D-); Last 3 avg (5.3 vs 4.5); Consistency (32% vs 16%); Boom rate (50% vs 27%); Grade vs RB (recency weighted) (B vs D-).
Why Samaje Perine
Sit Samaje Perine — projects 8.2, a tough matchup vs JAX, but the role is cooling.
Samaje Perine projects 8.2 points on a 4.3–8.3 range. The matchup grades as tough against JAX. Usage: carries / game at 5.6. Net: Samaje Perine is a bench this week.
Working for Perine: High-scoring spot (27.0 team total).
Working against Perine: Committee back (13% of touches), Tough matchup (Tough · D- vs RB).
Where Perine leads the head-to-head: Opportunity score (5.6 vs 5.3); Implied team total (27.0 vs 26.0); Last 5 avg (6.0 vs 5.3); vs season (+0.1 vs +0.0); Bust rate (27% vs 50%); Carries / game (5.6 vs 5.3); Opportunity score (exp pts) (5.6 vs 5.3); Yards per carry (4.5 vs 3.5); Goal line carries (4 vs 0); Red zone carries (16 vs 1); Implied total (27.0 vs 26.0).
Recent form
Emmett Johnson's last 3 games: PPR points 1.7, 5.5, 8.8 (low to high; the card does not say which came first).
Samaje Perine's last 5 games: PPR points 8.3, 8.2, 8, 3.2, 2.4 (oldest to newest).
Johnson has already beaten Perine's 8.2 projection in 1 of his 3; Perine has beaten Johnson's 8.5 in 0 of his 5.
At least 1 of these 5 were played before the 2026 season — the card does not date them.
Matchup
Emmett Johnson (KC) faces LV, kickoff Sun 4:25 PM ET. The matchup is rated neutral. Betting line: implied team total 26.0, spread -4.5.
Samaje Perine (CIN) faces JAX, kickoff Sun 1:00 PM ET. The matchup is rated tough. Betting line: implied team total 27.0, spread -2.5.
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.