DeVonta Smith or Rico Dowdle: who should I start in Week 5?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on DeVonta Smith: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 181st overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 11; 2QB: ADP 29.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Rico Dowdle: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 182nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

What the player markets price

The market has DeVonta Smith at 2.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 2 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market has Rico Dowdle at 2.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 6 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season so far

Through Week 3, DeVonta Smith has been on the field for 93 percent of PHI snaps, drawn 33 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 10 of the offence's 28 third down targets, had 0 of its 6 chances inside the five and seen 10 of its 18 two minute targets.

His 27 targets have averaged 12.0 air yards.

In Week 1 against WAS he caught 3 of 6 targets for 53 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against TEN he caught 10 of 13 targets for 117 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 3 against CHI he caught 6 of 8 targets for 65 yards and did not score.

Through Week 2, Rico Dowdle has been on the field for 42 percent of PIT snaps, taken 37 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 18 third down targets and seen 0 of its 9 two minute targets.

His 7 targets have averaged 0.9 air yards.

In Week 1 against ATL he carried 8 times for 15 yards, caught 2 of 5 targets for 6 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against NE he carried 7 times for 22 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 22 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 DeVonta Smith played 17 games and scored 201.8 PPR points, 11.9 a game, finishing WR20.

He caught 77 of 113 targets for 1008 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 10 red zone targets.

That came to 6.6 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 13.1 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 89 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Rico Dowdle played 17 games and scored 216.3 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing RB18.

He carried 236 times for 1076 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 39 of 50 targets for 297 more yards.

That came to 13.9 carries a game at 4.6 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 56 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 Rico Dowdle scored 12.7 PPR points a game and DeVonta Smith 11.9, 0.9 a game between them.

DeVonta Smith finished WR20 and Rico Dowdle RB18, which are two different ladders.

DeVonta Smith is a wide receiver and Rico Dowdle a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

DeVonta Smith is off in Week 10 and Rico Dowdle in Week 9, so either can cover the other's bye.

DeVonta Smith is listed as questionable on the injury report.

Rico Dowdle is listed as questionable on the injury report.