Start Chase Brown or Jonathan Taylor? Week 1

Our Week 1 call

Start Jonathan Taylor over Chase Brown in Week 1.

Chase Brown is priced by the books at 5.8 projected points and Jonathan Taylor is not priced at all, so we are leaning on where drafters take them. Drafters take Jonathan Taylor at ADP 8 and Chase Brown at 14.

What the books imply

No sportsbook posted a player market for Jonathan Taylor in Week 1.

Player prop markets imply 5.8 fantasy points for Chase Brown, with 40 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

Week 1 matchups

Jonathan Taylor and IND host BAL.

BAL allowed 26.1 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 11th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns against BAL and caught passes for 23 more yards.

Chase Brown and CIN host TB on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

TB allowed 26.8 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 10th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 76 yards and a touchdown against TB and caught passes for 52 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Chase Brown has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Jonathan Taylor was not on the injury report when the call was made.

Chase Brown was not on the injury report when the call was made.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Jonathan Taylor played 17 games for IND and scored 362.3 PPR points, 21.3 a game, finishing RB4.

He ran 323 times for 1585 yards and 18 touchdowns, and caught 46 of 55 targets for 378 yards.

He was on the field for 84 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Jonathan Taylor, Week 18 of 2025 against HOU: 14 carries for 26 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 13 yards, 5.9 PPR points.

Jonathan Taylor, Week 17 of 2025 against JAX: 51 of 57 snaps, 21 carries for 70 yards, 6 targets and 3 catches for 14 yards, 1 touchdown, 17.4 PPR points.

Jonathan Taylor, Week 16 of 2025 against SF: 53 of 60 snaps, 16 carries for 46 yards, 3 targets and 3 catches for 33 yards, 1 touchdown, 16.9 PPR points.

In 2025, Chase Brown played 17 games for CIN and scored 282.6 PPR points, 16.6 a game, finishing RB7.

He ran 232 times for 1019 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 69 of 88 targets for 437 yards.

He was on the field for 67 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Chase Brown, Week 18 of 2025 against CLE: 13 carries for 72 yards, 6 targets and 4 catches for 18 yards, 1 touchdown, 19.0 PPR points.

Chase Brown, Week 17 of 2025 against ARI: 47 of 77 snaps, 22 carries for 101 yards, 3 targets and 3 catches for 40 yards, 2 touchdowns, 29.1 PPR points.

Chase Brown, Week 16 of 2025 against MIA: 37 of 61 snaps, 12 carries for 66 yards, 4 targets and 4 catches for 43 yards, 3 touchdowns, 32.9 PPR points.

How Week 1 went

Jonathan Taylor scored 25.1 PPR points and Chase Brown scored 18.8.

The call was right: Jonathan Taylor outscored Chase Brown by 6.3.

Jonathan Taylor, Week 1 against BAL: 48 of 54 snaps, 19 carries for 98 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 23 yards, 2 touchdowns, 25.1 PPR points.

Jonathan Taylor finished as the week's RB8 in PPR scoring.

Chase Brown finished 13.0 points above the 5.8 the props implied.

Chase Brown, Week 1 against TB: 46 of 64 snaps, 16 carries for 56 yards, 6 targets and 5 catches for 22 yards, 1 touchdown, 18.8 PPR points.

Chase Brown finished as the week's RB14 in PPR scoring.

Their other Week 1 calls

• Start Bijan Robinson over Jonathan Taylor.
• Start Jonathan Taylor over Christian McCaffrey.
• Start Jonathan Taylor over De'Von Achane.
• Start Ashton Jeanty over Chase Brown.
• Start Derrick Henry over Chase Brown.
• Start De'Von Achane over Chase Brown.