C.J. Stroud or Devaughn Vele: who should I start in Week 5?

What the player markets price

The player markets price C.J. Stroud at 14.7 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 15 market sources. That is the 45th highest figure of the 221 players the market prices.

The player markets price Devaughn Vele at 8.8 PPR points a game, built from 4 markets across 15 market sources. That is the 112th highest figure of the 221 players the market prices.

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on C.J. Stroud: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 117th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 30.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Devaughn Vele: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 93rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season through Week 4

Through Week 4, C.J. Stroud has been on the field for 100 percent of HOU snaps, dropped back 166 times and thrown 10.3 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 27 of 166 dropbacks and scrambled 7 times.

In Week 2 against CIN he completed 30 of 53 passes for 353 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 3 times for 29 yards.

In Week 3 against IND he completed 16 of 27 passes for 167 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 10 yards.

In Week 4 against DAL he completed 21 of 29 passes for 347 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 12 yards.

Through Week 4, Devaughn Vele has been on the field for 91 percent of NO snaps, drawn 18 percent of the targets and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 10 of the offence's 41 third down targets, had 2 of its 11 chances inside the five and seen 6 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 31 targets have averaged 10.2 air yards.

In Week 2 against BAL he caught 5 of 7 targets for 64 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against LV he caught 3 of 6 targets for 39 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against ATL he caught 6 of 9 targets for 54 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 C.J. Stroud played 14 games and scored 216.5 PPR points, 15.5 a game, finishing QB21.

He threw for 3041 yards on 423 attempts with 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, and ran for 209 yards and 1 touchdown.

That came to 30.2 attempts a game at 7.2 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 93 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Devaughn Vele played 13 games and scored 66.3 PPR points, 5.1 a game, finishing WR95.

He caught 25 of 39 targets for 293 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 4 red zone targets.

That came to 3.0 targets a game, a 64 percent catch rate and 11.7 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 51 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

C.J. Stroud was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 C.J. Stroud scored 15.5 PPR points a game and Devaughn Vele 5.1, 10.4 a game between them.

C.J. Stroud finished QB21 and Devaughn Vele WR95, which are two different ladders.

C.J. Stroud is a quarterback and Devaughn Vele a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

C.J. Stroud is off in Week 8. No bye is listed for Devaughn Vele.

What would change the answer

5.9 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.