Croskey-Merritt
RB · WAS vs IND
Proj pts
13.5pts
market
Marks
RB · HOU vs DAL
Proj pts
12.4pts
market
Jacory Croskey-Merritt or Woody Marks: who should I start in Week 4?
Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt. Bench Woody Marks. Jacory Croskey-Merritt leads at 13.5. Woody Marks is the first one out, 1.1 short.
Crowd: started Croskey-Merritt 31%
Availability & news
Woody Marks
Marks turned five carries into 15 yards and a touchdown and hauled in his lone target for six yards during the Texans' 19-17 loss to the Colts on Sunday. He also returned two kickoffs for 52 yards.(rotowire, Sep 28, 2026)
Highlights
Cons
- Committee back24% of touches
- Negative game scriptTrailing
Pros
- Run-funnel matchupRun-funnel vs RB
Cons
- Committee back26% 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 Jacory Croskey-Merritt
Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt — projects 13.5, an even matchup vs IND.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt projects 13.5 points on a 5.1–16.3 range. The matchup grades as neutral against IND. Usage: carries / game at 10.3. Net: Jacory Croskey-Merritt is start this week.
Working against Croskey-Merritt: Committee back (24% of touches), Negative game script (Trailing).
Where Croskey-Merritt leads the head-to-head: Projection (13.5 vs 12.4); Ceiling (16.3 vs 13.5); Last 3 avg (7.9 vs 7.5); Last 5 avg (9.8 vs 7.6); vs season (+1.5 vs -0.8); Boom rate (23% vs 21%); Yards per carry (4.6 vs 3.6); Goal line carries (13 vs 9).
Why Woody Marks
Sit Woody Marks — projects 12.4, a run-funnel matchup vs DAL.
Woody Marks projects 12.4 points on a 7.2–13.5 range. The matchup grades as run-funnel against DAL. Usage: carries / game at 12.2. Net: Woody Marks is a bench this week.
Working for Marks: Run-funnel matchup (Run-funnel vs RB).
Working against Marks: Committee back (26% of touches).
Where Marks leads the head-to-head: Floor (7.2 vs 5.1); Touch share (26% vs 24%); Opportunity score (11.0 vs 7.7); Matchup grade (recency weighted) (A- vs C-); Implied team total (25.5 vs 22.0); Consistency (34% vs 20%); Bust rate (21% vs 38%); Carries / game (12.2 vs 10.3); Touches / game (13.8 vs 10.8); Target share (7% vs 3%); Opportunity score (exp pts) (11.0 vs 7.7); Snap share (52% vs 40%); Red zone carries (41 vs 32); Grade vs RB (recency weighted) (A- vs C-); Implied total (25.5 vs 22.0).
Recent form
Jacory Croskey-Merritt's last 5 games: PPR points 22.5, 2.9, 12.6, 5.8, 5.3 (oldest to newest).
Woody Marks's last 5 games: PPR points 8.5, 6.8, 5, 8.5, 9.1 (oldest to newest).
Croskey-Merritt has already beaten Marks's 12.4 projection in 2 of his 5; Marks has beaten Croskey-Merritt's 13.5 in 0 of his 5.
At least 1 of these 5 were played before the 2026 season — the card does not date them.
Matchup
Jacory Croskey-Merritt (WAS) faces IND, kickoff Sun 9:30 AM ET. The matchup is rated neutral. Betting line: implied team total 22.0, spread +3.5.
Woody Marks (HOU) faces DAL, kickoff Sun 1:00 PM ET. The matchup is rated run-funnel. Betting line: implied team total 25.5, spread -2.5.
What flips it
Croskey-Merritt's edge is 1.1 points (13.5 to 12.4). Croskey-Merritt's floor (5.1) sits under Marks's projection, so a quiet game from Croskey-Merritt flips it. Confidence in the call: moderate.
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.