Start Jonathan Taylor or Jahmyr Gibbs? Week 1

Our Week 1 call

Start Jahmyr Gibbs over Jonathan Taylor in Week 1.

De-vigged player props project Jahmyr Gibbs at 8.7 points and Jonathan Taylor at 12.1, a gap of 3.5. Drafters take Jahmyr Gibbs at ADP 1 and Jonathan Taylor at 8. Market coverage on Jahmyr Gibbs is 40 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 8.7 fantasy points for Jahmyr Gibbs, with 40 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

Player prop markets imply 12.1 fantasy points for Jonathan Taylor, with 30 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

That puts Jonathan Taylor 3.5 points ahead of Jahmyr Gibbs on the books.

Week 1 matchups

Jahmyr Gibbs and DET host NO on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

NO allowed 36.4 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 5th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns against NO and caught passes for 41 more yards.

Jonathan Taylor and IND host BAL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

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.

By points allowed to the position, Jahmyr Gibbs has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Jahmyr Gibbs was not on the injury report when the call was made.

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

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Jahmyr Gibbs played 17 games for DET and scored 366.9 PPR points, 21.6 a game, finishing RB3.

He ran 243 times for 1223 yards and 13 touchdowns, and caught 77 of 94 targets for 616 yards.

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

Jahmyr Gibbs, Week 18 of 2025 against CHI: 19 carries for 80 yards, 5 targets and 3 catches for 33 yards, 1 touchdown, 20.3 PPR points.

Jahmyr Gibbs, Week 17 of 2025 against MIN: 44 of 64 snaps, 17 carries for 41 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 23 yards, 6.4 PPR points.

Jahmyr Gibbs, Week 16 of 2025 against PIT: 64 of 74 snaps, 7 carries for 2 yards, 13 targets and 10 catches for 66 yards, 1 touchdown, 22.8 PPR points.

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.

How Week 1 went

Jahmyr Gibbs scored 33.6 PPR points and Jonathan Taylor scored 25.1.

The call was right: Jahmyr Gibbs outscored Jonathan Taylor by 8.5.

Jahmyr Gibbs finished 25.0 points above the 8.7 the props implied.

Jahmyr Gibbs, Week 1 against NO: 57 of 77 snaps, 29 carries for 156 yards, 5 targets and 5 catches for 30 yards, 2 touchdowns, 33.6 PPR points.

Jahmyr Gibbs finished as the week's RB3 in PPR scoring.

Jonathan Taylor finished 13.0 points above the 12.1 the props implied.

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.

Their other Week 1 calls

• Start Jahmyr Gibbs over Bijan Robinson.
• Start Jahmyr Gibbs over Christian McCaffrey.
• Start Bijan Robinson over Jonathan Taylor.
• Start Jonathan Taylor over Chase Brown.
• Start Jonathan Taylor over Christian McCaffrey.