Christian McCaffrey or Justin Jefferson: who should I start in Week 5?

What the player markets price

The player markets price Christian McCaffrey at 17.9 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 17 market sources. That is the 16th highest figure of the 208 players the market prices.

The player markets price Justin Jefferson at 17.0 PPR points a game, built from 4 markets across 14 market sources. That is the 24th highest figure of the 208 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 14th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 7.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Justin Jefferson: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 15th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 4; 2QB: ADP 15.

This season so far

Through Week 4, Christian McCaffrey has been on the field for 66 percent of SF snaps, taken 45 percent of the carries, drawn 20 percent of the targets and had 35 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 28 third down targets, had 8 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 18 two minute targets.

His 22 targets have averaged 2.5 air yards.

In Week 2 against MIA he carried 10 times for 23 yards, caught 4 of 4 targets for 43 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

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.

Through Week 3, Justin Jefferson has been on the field for 68 percent of MIN snaps, drawn 25 percent of the targets and had 21 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 8 of the offence's 30 third down targets, had 0 of its 2 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 6 two minute targets.

His 17 targets have averaged 11.1 air yards.

In Week 1 against GB he caught 8 of 9 targets for 92 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 2 against CHI he caught 3 of 6 targets for 55 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against TB he caught 2 of 2 targets for 32 yards and did not score.

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 Justin Jefferson played 17 games and scored 201.5 PPR points, 11.9 a game, finishing WR21.

He caught 84 of 141 targets for 1048 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 17 red zone targets.

That came to 8.3 targets a game, a 60 percent catch rate and 12.5 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 95 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 Justin Jefferson 11.9, 12.7 a game between them.

Christian McCaffrey finished RB1 and Justin Jefferson WR21, which are two different ladders.

Christian McCaffrey is a running back and Justin Jefferson 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 Justin Jefferson in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

Justin Jefferson is listed as questionable on the injury report.

What would change the answer

0.9 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.