Christian McCaffrey or Jaxon Smith-Njigba: who should I start in Week 6?

What the player markets price

The player markets price Christian McCaffrey at 21.7 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 10 market sources. That is the 2nd highest figure of the 131 players the market prices.

The player markets price Jaxon Smith-Njigba at 19.4 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 4th highest figure of the 131 players the market prices.

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Christian McCaffrey: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 2nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 7.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Jaxon Smith-Njigba: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 4th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 8.

This season through Week 5

Through Week 5, Christian McCaffrey has been on the field for 69 percent of SF snaps, taken 46 percent of the carries, drawn 18 percent of the targets and had 34 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 35 third down targets, had 8 of its 14 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 21 two minute targets.

His 25 targets have averaged 2.0 air yards.

In Week 3 against ARI he carried 15 times for 75 yards, caught 4 of 5 targets for 41 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 4 against DEN he carried 15 times for 52 yards, caught 3 of 5 targets for 18 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 5 against SEA he carried 11 times for 68 yards, caught 3 of 3 targets for 15 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 5, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been on the field for 83 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 35 percent of the targets and had 21 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 18 of the offence's 41 third down targets, had 2 of its 16 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 20 two minute targets.

His 50 targets have averaged 10.3 air yards.

In Week 3 against WAS he caught 10 of 14 targets for 128 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 4 against LAC he caught 5 of 6 targets for 76 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against SF he carried 1 time for 16 yards, caught 5 of 8 targets for 102 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Christian McCaffrey played 17 games and scored 416.6 PPR points, 24.5 a game, finishing RB1.

He carried 311 times for 1202 yards and 10 touchdowns, and caught 102 of 129 targets for 924 more yards.

That came to 18.3 carries a game at 3.9 yards a carry and 6.0 catches a game.

He was on the field for 83 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Jaxon Smith-Njigba played 17 games and scored 359.9 PPR points, 21.2 a game, finishing WR2.

He caught 119 of 163 targets for 1793 yards and 10 touchdowns, with 17 red zone targets.

That came to 9.6 targets a game, a 73 percent catch rate and 15.1 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 Christian McCaffrey scored 24.5 PPR points a game and Jaxon Smith-Njigba 21.2, 3.3 a game between them.

Christian McCaffrey finished RB1 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba WR2, which are two different ladders.

Christian McCaffrey is a running back and Jaxon Smith-Njigba a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Christian McCaffrey is off in Week 8 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba is listed as questionable on the injury report.

What would change the answer

2.4 points a game is the entire case. The market restates it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when the consensus sample holds these two again it can order them differently from the price, and this page will follow the sample rather than the market price when it does.