C.J. Stroud or Ladd McConkey: who should I start in Week 5?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on C.J. Stroud: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 16th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 30.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Ladd McConkey: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 99th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes half PPR: ADP 2; standard: ADP 14; 2QB: ADP 35.

What the player markets price

The player markets price C.J. Stroud at 16.9 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 10 market sources. That is the 8th highest figure of the 107 players the market prices.

The market has Ladd McConkey at 2.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Ladd McConkey's price is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season so far

Through Week 5, C.J. Stroud has been on the field for 100 percent of HOU snaps, dropped back 202 times and thrown 9.8 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 29 of 202 dropbacks and scrambled 7 times.

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.

In Week 5 against TEN he completed 26 of 34 passes for 261 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions and ran 4 times for 7 yards.

Through Week 4, Ladd McConkey has been on the field for 54 percent of LAC snaps, drawn 15 percent of the targets and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 37 third down targets, had 0 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 13 two minute targets.

His 17 targets have averaged 13.4 air yards.

In Week 2 against LV he caught 3 of 3 targets for 35 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against BUF he caught 4 of 5 targets for 66 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against SEA he caught 0 of 2 targets for 0 yards and did not score.

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 Ladd McConkey played 16 games and scored 180.9 PPR points, 11.3 a game, finishing WR30.

He caught 66 of 106 targets for 789 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets.

That came to 6.6 targets a game, a 62 percent catch rate and 12.0 yards a catch.

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

Ladd McConkey was available for 2 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 C.J. Stroud scored 15.5 PPR points a game and Ladd McConkey 11.3, 4.2 a game between them.

C.J. Stroud finished QB21 and Ladd McConkey WR30, which are two different ladders.

C.J. Stroud is a quarterback and Ladd McConkey 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 and Ladd McConkey in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.

Ladd McConkey is listed as questionable on the injury report.

What would change the answer

Ladd McConkey is only part priced, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.