Jaylen Waddle or Jacory Croskey-Merritt: who should I start in Week 5?

What the player markets price

The player markets price Jaylen Waddle at 12.1 PPR points a game, built from 4 markets across 16 market sources. That is the 68th highest figure of the 185 players the market prices.

The player markets price Jacory Croskey-Merritt at 10.8 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 14 market sources. That is the 81st highest figure of the 185 players the market prices.

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Jaylen Waddle: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 42nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 15; 2QB: ADP 37.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Jacory Croskey-Merritt: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 60th overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season through Week 4

Through Week 4, Jaylen Waddle has been on the field for 69 percent of DEN snaps, drawn 21 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 11 of the offence's 35 third down targets, had 0 of its 11 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 16 two minute targets.

His 26 targets have averaged 10.7 air yards.

In Week 2 against JAX he caught 8 of 10 targets for 138 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against LAR he carried 1 time for 14 yards, caught 2 of 7 targets for 10 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against SF he caught 5 of 6 targets for 35 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 4, Jacory Croskey-Merritt has been on the field for 47 percent of WAS snaps, taken 48 percent of the carries, drawn 5 percent of the targets and had 21 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 37 third down targets, had 1 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 14 two minute targets.

His 7 targets have averaged 0.6 air yards.

In Week 2 against DAL he carried 12 times for 43 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 5 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against SEA he carried 19 times for 36 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 7 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against IND he carried 9 times for 15 yards, caught 2 of 4 targets for 35 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Jaylen Waddle played 16 games and scored 194.1 PPR points, 12.1 a game, finishing WR24.

He caught 64 of 100 targets for 910 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets.

That came to 6.3 targets a game, a 64 percent catch rate and 14.2 yards a catch.

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

In 2025 Jacory Croskey-Merritt played 17 games and scored 140.3 PPR points, 8.3 a game, finishing RB33.

He carried 175 times for 805 yards and 8 touchdowns, and caught 9 of 13 targets for 68 more yards.

That came to 10.3 carries a game at 4.6 yards a carry and 0.5 catches a game.

He was on the field for 39 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Jaylen Waddle scored 12.1 PPR points a game and Jacory Croskey-Merritt 8.3, 3.9 a game between them.

Jaylen Waddle finished WR24 and Jacory Croskey-Merritt RB33, which are two different ladders.

Jaylen Waddle is a wide receiver and Jacory Croskey-Merritt a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Jaylen Waddle is off in Week 10 and Jacory Croskey-Merritt in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt is listed as questionable on the injury report.

What would change the answer

1.3 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.