Hurts
QB · PHI vs LA
Proj pts
16.6pts
market
Murray
QB · MIN vs MIA
Proj pts
16.2pts
market
Jalen Hurts or Kyler Murray: who should I start in Week 4?
Start Jalen Hurts. Bench Kyler Murray. Jalen Hurts leads at 16.6. Kyler Murray is the first one out, 0.4 short.
Crowd: started Hurts 67% · Murray 33%
Highlights
Pros
- Rushing floor6.6 rush att/g
Pros
- Rushing floor5.8 rush att/g
- Favorable matchupFavorable · B+ vs QB
- Reliable90% consistency
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 16.2); Ceiling (24.1 vs 20.0); Last 3 avg (17.8 vs 8.4); Last 5 avg (16.8 vs 11.1); vs season (-0.5 vs -4.1); Boom rate (12% vs 0%); Yards per attempt (7.1 vs 6.0); Touchdown rate (6% vs 4%); Rush attempts / game (6.6 vs 5.8).
Why Kyler Murray
Sit Kyler Murray — projects 16.2, a favorable matchup vs MIA, but the role is cooling.
Kyler Murray projects 16.2 points on a 14.6–20.0 range. The matchup grades as favorable against MIA. Usage: pass attempts / game at 32.2. Net: Kyler Murray is a bench this week.
Working for Murray: Rushing floor (5.8 rush att/g), Favorable matchup (Favorable · B+ vs QB), Reliable (90% consistency).
Where Murray leads the head-to-head: Floor (14.6 vs 13.9); Pass attempts (32.2 vs 28.4); Matchup grade (recency weighted) (B+ vs C); Implied team total (24.5 vs 20.3); Consistency (90% vs 63%); Bust rate (0% vs 12%); Pass attempts / game (32.2 vs 28.4); Completions / game (22.0 vs 18.4); Rush yards / game (34.6 vs 26.3); Rushing production share (30% vs 29%); Grade vs QB (recency weighted) (B+ vs C); Implied total (24.5 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).
Kyler Murray's last 5 games: PPR points 14.1, 16.1, 15.3, -0.4, 10.4 (oldest to newest).
Hurts has already beaten Murray's 16.2 projection in 2 of his 5; Murray has beaten Hurts's 16.6 in 0 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.
Kyler Murray (MIN) faces MIA, kickoff Sun 4:05 PM ET. The matchup is rated favorable. Betting line: implied team total 24.5, spread -10.5.
What flips it
Hurts's edge is 0.4 points (16.6 to 16.2). Murray's ceiling (20) clears Hurts's projection, so a big game from Murray flips it. Hurts's floor (13.9) sits under Murray'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.