C.J. Stroud or Tony Pollard: who should I start in Week 5?

What the player markets price

The player markets price C.J. Stroud at 16.4 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 11 market sources. That is the 27th highest figure of the 182 players the market prices.

The player markets price Tony Pollard at 9.2 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 12 market sources. That is the 93rd highest figure of the 182 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 92nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 31.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Tony Pollard: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 77th 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, Tony Pollard has been on the field for 53 percent of TEN snaps, taken 60 percent of the carries, drawn 10 percent of the targets and had 43 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 31 third down targets, had 6 of its 12 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 20 two minute targets.

His 11 targets have averaged 1.5 air yards.

In Week 2 against PHI he carried 14 times for 64 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 1 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against NYG he carried 17 times for 74 yards, caught 4 of 4 targets for 22 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against BAL he carried 16 times for 48 yards, caught 2 of 4 targets for 2 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 Tony Pollard played 17 games and scored 185.8 PPR points, 10.9 a game, finishing RB23.

He carried 242 times for 1082 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 41 targets for 206 more yards.

That came to 14.2 carries a game at 4.5 yards a carry and 1.9 catches a game.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Tony Pollard was available for 3 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 C.J. Stroud scored 15.5 PPR points a game and Tony Pollard 10.9, 4.5 a game between them.

C.J. Stroud finished QB21 and Tony Pollard RB23, which are two different ladders.

C.J. Stroud is a quarterback and Tony Pollard a running back, 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 Tony Pollard in Week 9, so either can cover the other's bye.

Tony Pollard is listed as questionable on the injury report.

What would change the answer

7.3 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.