Khalil Shakir or Joe Burrow: who should I start in Week 5?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Khalil Shakir: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 71st overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Joe Burrow: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 73rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

What the player markets price

The market has Khalil Shakir at 9.7 PPR points a game off 3 markets across 14 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.

The market has Joe Burrow at 17.5 PPR points a game off 4 markets across 12 market sources. That is 80 percent of what a quarterback's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season through Week 4

Through Week 4, Khalil Shakir has been on the field for 62 percent of BUF snaps, drawn 21 percent of the targets and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 31 third down targets, had 1 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 2 of its 22 two minute targets.

His 23 targets have averaged 6.6 air yards.

In Week 2 against DET he caught 3 of 6 targets for 38 yards and did not score.

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

In Week 4 against NE he caught 7 of 8 targets for 82 yards and did not score.

Through Week 4, Joe Burrow has been on the field for 100 percent of CIN snaps, dropped back 171 times and thrown 7.1 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 32 of 171 dropbacks and scrambled 5 times.

In Week 2 against HOU he completed 20 of 31 passes for 207 yards and threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

In Week 3 against PIT he completed 28 of 37 passes for 282 yards, threw 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 13 yards.

In Week 4 against JAX he completed 39 of 54 passes for 428 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions and ran 3 times for 6 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Khalil Shakir played 16 games and scored 166.4 PPR points, 10.4 a game, finishing WR36.

He caught 72 of 95 targets for 719 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 13 red zone targets.

That came to 5.9 targets a game, a 76 percent catch rate and 10.0 yards a catch.

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

In 2025 Joe Burrow played 8 games and scored 139.5 PPR points, 17.4 a game, finishing QB29.

He threw for 1809 yards on 259 attempts with 17 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran for 41 yards and 0 touchdowns.

That came to 32.4 attempts a game at 7.0 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 86 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Khalil Shakir was available for 8 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Joe Burrow scored 17.4 PPR points a game and Khalil Shakir 10.4, 7.0 a game between them.

Khalil Shakir finished WR36 and Joe Burrow QB29, which are two different ladders.

Khalil Shakir is a wide receiver and Joe Burrow a quarterback, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Khalil Shakir is off in Week 7 and Joe Burrow in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.