Hurts
QB · PHI vs LA
Proj pts
16.6pts
market
Goff
QB · DET vs CAR
Proj pts
16.5pts
market
Jalen Hurts or Jared Goff: who should I start in Week 4?
Start Jalen Hurts. Bench Jared Goff. Jalen Hurts leads at 16.6. Jared Goff is the first one out, 0.1 short.
Crowd: started Hurts 67% · Goff 79%
Highlights
Pros
- Rushing floor6.6 rush att/g
Pros
- High-scoring spot27.0 team total
- High floor16.4 floor
- Heating up21.9 last 3
Cons
- Tough matchupTough · D+ vs QB
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 Jalen Hurts
Start Jalen Hurts — projects 16.6, an even matchup vs LA.
Jalen Hurts projects 16.6 points on a 13.9–24.1 range. The matchup grades as neutral against LA. Usage: pass attempts / game at 28.4. Net: Jalen Hurts is start this week.
Working for Hurts: Rushing floor (6.6 rush att/g).
Where Hurts leads the head-to-head: Projection (16.6 vs 16.5); Matchup grade (recency weighted) (C vs D+); Last 5 avg (16.8 vs 16.6); vs season (-0.5 vs -2.5); Consistency (63% vs 58%); Rush attempts / game (6.6 vs 1.1); Rush yards / game (26.3 vs 2.6); Rushing production share (29% vs 2%); Grade vs QB (recency weighted) (C vs D+).
Why Jared Goff
Sit Jared Goff — projects 16.5, a tough matchup vs CAR, with a rising role.
Jared Goff projects 16.5 points on a 16.4–26.1 range. The matchup grades as tough against CAR. Usage: pass attempts / game at 34.0. Net: Jared Goff is a bench this week.
Working for Goff: High-scoring spot (27.0 team total), High floor (16.4 floor), Heating up (21.9 last 3).
Working against Goff: Tough matchup (Tough · D+ vs QB).
Where Goff leads the head-to-head: Floor (16.4 vs 13.9); Ceiling (26.1 vs 24.1); Pass attempts (34.0 vs 28.4); Implied team total (27.0 vs 20.3); Last 3 avg (21.9 vs 17.8); Bust rate (6% vs 12%); Pass attempts / game (34.0 vs 28.4); Completions / game (23.1 vs 18.4); Yards per attempt (7.9 vs 7.1); Implied total (27.0 vs 20.3).
Recent form
Jalen Hurts's last 5 games: PPR points 21.4, 8.9, 24.7, 16.2, 12.6 (oldest to newest).
Jared Goff's last 5 games: PPR points 2.1, 15.2, 16.4, 29.8, 19.4 (oldest to newest).
Hurts has already beaten Goff's 16.5 projection in 2 of his 5; Goff has beaten Hurts's 16.6 in 2 of his 5.
At least 1 of these 5 were played before the 2026 season — the card does not date them.
Matchup
Jalen Hurts (PHI) faces LA, kickoff Sun 1:00 PM ET. The matchup is rated neutral. Betting line: implied team total 20.3, spread +3.0.
Jared Goff (DET) faces CAR, kickoff Sun 8:20 PM ET. The matchup is rated tough. Betting line: implied team total 27.0, spread -3.5.
What flips it
Hurts's edge is 0.1 points (16.6 to 16.5). Goff's ceiling (26.1) clears Hurts's projection, so a big game from Goff flips it. Hurts's floor (13.9) sits under Goff's projection, so a quiet game from Hurts flips it too. Confidence in the call: lower.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.