Marks
RB · HOU vs DAL
Proj pts
12.4pts
market
Harvey
RB · DEN vs SF
Proj pts
11.8pts
market
RJ Harvey or Woody Marks: who should I start in Week 4?
Start Woody Marks. Bench RJ Harvey. Woody Marks leads at 12.4. RJ Harvey is the first one out, 0.6 short.
Crowd: started Harvey 30%
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
Pros
- Run-funnel matchupRun-funnel vs RB
Cons
- Committee back26% of touches
Pros
- Run-funnel matchupRun-funnel vs RB
- Spike upside21.7 ceiling
- Big-play upside31% boom weeks
Cons
- Committee back23% of touches
- Negative game scriptTrailing
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 Woody Marks
Start 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 start 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: Projection (12.4 vs 11.8); Touch share (26% vs 23%); Opportunity score (11.0 vs 10.4); Matchup grade (recency weighted) (A- vs B+); Implied team total (25.5 vs 22.3); Bust rate (21% vs 25%); Carries / game (12.2 vs 8.6); Touches / game (13.8 vs 11.4); Opportunity score (exp pts) (11.0 vs 10.4); Snap share (52% vs 42%); Red zone carries (41 vs 31); Grade vs RB (recency weighted) (A- vs B+); Implied total (25.5 vs 22.3).
Why RJ Harvey
Sit RJ Harvey — projects 11.8, a run-funnel matchup vs SF, but the role is cooling.
RJ Harvey projects 11.8 points on a 8.1–21.7 range. The matchup grades as run-funnel against SF. Usage: carries / game at 8.6. Net: RJ Harvey is a bench this week.
Working for Harvey: Run-funnel matchup (Run-funnel vs RB), Spike upside (21.7 ceiling), Big-play upside (31% boom weeks).
Working against Harvey: Committee back (23% of touches), Negative game script (Trailing).
Where Harvey leads the head-to-head: Floor (8.1 vs 7.2); Ceiling (21.7 vs 13.5); Last 3 avg (7.7 vs 7.5); Last 5 avg (12.8 vs 7.6); vs season (-0.1 vs -0.8); Consistency (40% vs 34%); Boom rate (31% vs 21%); Target share (10% vs 7%); Yards per carry (3.7 vs 3.6); Goal line carries (10 vs 9).
Recent form
Woody Marks's last 5 games: PPR points 8.5, 6.8, 5, 8.5, 9.1 (oldest to newest).
RJ Harvey's last 5 games: PPR points 22.1, 18.6, 4.3, 8.1, 10.7 (oldest to newest).
Marks has already beaten Harvey's 11.8 projection in 0 of his 5; Harvey has beaten Marks's 12.4 in 2 of his 5.
At least 1 of these 5 were played before the 2026 season — the card does not date them.
Matchup
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.
RJ Harvey (DEN) faces SF, kickoff Sun 4:25 PM ET. The matchup is rated run-funnel. Betting line: implied team total 22.3, spread +3.0.
What flips it
Marks's edge is 0.6 points (12.4 to 11.8). Harvey's ceiling (21.7) clears Marks's projection, so a big game from Harvey flips it. Marks's floor (7.2) sits under Harvey's projection, so a quiet game from Marks flips it too. 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.