Nico Collins or James Cook III: who should I start in Week 5?

Where the draft room stands

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

Drafters have formed no consensus on James Cook III: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 17th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 2; 2QB: ADP 10.

What the player markets price

The player markets price Nico Collins at 16.8 PPR points a game, built from 4 markets across 12 market sources. That is the 24th highest figure of the 183 players the market prices.

The market has James Cook III at 16.6 PPR points a game off 4 markets across 14 market sources. That is 80 percent of what a running back's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

James Cook III's price is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 4

Through Week 4, Nico Collins has been on the field for 71 percent of HOU snaps, drawn 29 percent of the targets and had 23 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 5 of the offence's 12 third down targets, had 0 of its 3 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 14 two minute targets.

His 18 targets have averaged 12.9 air yards.

In Week 1 against BUF he carried 1 time for 7 yards, caught 7 of 10 targets for 75 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 4 against DAL he caught 7 of 8 targets for 118 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Through Week 4, James Cook III has been on the field for 68 percent of BUF snaps, taken 67 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 38 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 31 third down targets, had 4 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 22 two minute targets.

His 10 targets have come 0.8 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 2 against DET he carried 21 times for 135 yards, caught 1 of 3 targets for 4 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 3 against LAC he carried 24 times for 154 yards, caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 4 against NE he carried 12 times for 75 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 8 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Nico Collins played 15 games and scored 226.2 PPR points, 15.1 a game, finishing WR8.

He caught 71 of 120 targets for 1117 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 16 red zone targets.

That came to 8.0 targets a game, a 59 percent catch rate and 15.7 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 77 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 James Cook III played 17 games and scored 302.2 PPR points, 17.8 a game, finishing RB6.

He carried 309 times for 1621 yards and 12 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 40 targets for 291 more yards.

That came to 18.2 carries a game at 5.2 yards a carry and 1.9 catches a game.

He was on the field for 60 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

James Cook III was available for 2 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 James Cook III scored 17.8 PPR points a game and Nico Collins 15.1, 2.7 a game between them.

Nico Collins finished WR8 and James Cook III RB6, which are two different ladders.

Nico Collins is a wide receiver and James Cook III a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Nico Collins is off in Week 8 and James Cook III in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

James Cook III is only part priced, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.