Jaxon Smith-Njigba or Ja'Marr Chase: who should I start in Week 5?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Jaxon Smith-Njigba: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 6th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 8.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Ja'Marr Chase: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 8th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 5.

What the player markets price

The player markets price Jaxon Smith-Njigba at 20.5 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 17 market sources. That is the 8th highest figure of the 217 players the market prices.

The market has Ja'Marr Chase at 18.7 PPR points a game off 3 markets across 15 market sources. That is 70 percent of what a wide receiver's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Ja'Marr Chase's price is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 4

Through Week 4, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been on the field for 82 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 37 percent of the targets and had 22 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 15 of the offence's 31 third down targets, had 2 of its 15 chances inside the five and seen 6 of its 15 two minute targets.

His 42 targets have averaged 9.9 air yards.

In Week 2 against ARI he caught 9 of 11 targets for 155 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.

In Week 3 against WAS he caught 10 of 14 targets for 128 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 4 against LAC he caught 5 of 6 targets for 76 yards and did not score.

Through Week 4, Ja'Marr Chase has been on the field for 72 percent of CIN snaps, drawn 18 percent of the targets and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 37 third down targets, had 1 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 2 of its 31 two minute targets.

His 28 targets have averaged 8.1 air yards.

In Week 2 against HOU he caught 7 of 9 targets for 75 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 3 against PIT he caught 9 of 12 targets for 98 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 4 against JAX he caught 3 of 3 targets for 27 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Jaxon Smith-Njigba played 17 games and scored 359.9 PPR points, 21.2 a game, finishing WR2.

He caught 119 of 163 targets for 1793 yards and 10 touchdowns, with 17 red zone targets.

That came to 9.6 targets a game, a 73 percent catch rate and 15.1 yards a catch.

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

In 2025 Ja'Marr Chase played 16 games and scored 313.6 PPR points, 19.6 a game, finishing WR4.

He caught 125 of 185 targets for 1412 yards and 8 touchdowns, with 21 red zone targets.

That came to 11.6 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 11.3 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 94 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba was available for 1 game more.

Head to head

In 2025 Jaxon Smith-Njigba scored 21.2 PPR points a game and Ja'Marr Chase 19.6, 1.6 a game between them.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba finished WR2 that year and Ja'Marr Chase WR4.

Ja'Marr Chase had 22 more targets than Jaxon Smith-Njigba, 185 to 163.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 381 more receiving yards than Ja'Marr Chase, 1793 to 1412.

This season Jaxon Smith-Njigba holds the bigger snap share, 82 percent against 72 percent.

This season Jaxon Smith-Njigba holds the bigger target share, 37 percent against 18 percent.

Byes and availability

Jaxon Smith-Njigba is off in Week 11 and Ja'Marr Chase in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

Ja'Marr Chase is listed as questionable on the injury report.

What would change the answer

Ja'Marr Chase is only part priced, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.