Rico Dowdle or Kenneth Walker: who should I start in Week 5?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Rico Dowdle: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 176th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Kenneth Walker: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 190th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes half PPR: ADP 1; standard: ADP 6; 2QB: ADP 18.

What the player markets price

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.

No season market is posted for Kenneth Walker, so the only market valuing him on this page is the draft room.

This season so far

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.

Through Week 4, Kenneth Walker has been on the field for 75 percent of KC snaps, taken 76 percent of the carries, drawn 16 percent of the targets and had 56 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 5 of the offence's 33 third down targets, had 10 of its 14 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 16 two minute targets.

His 19 targets have come 0.1 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 2 against IND he carried 24 times for 117 yards, caught 6 of 10 targets for 61 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against MIA he carried 18 times for 70 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 3 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 4 against LV he carried 22 times for 177 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 2 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025 Kenneth Walker played 17 games and scored 191.9 PPR points, 11.3 a game, finishing RB22.

He carried 221 times for 1027 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 31 of 36 targets for 282 more yards.

That came to 13.0 carries a game at 4.6 yards a carry and 1.8 catches a game.

He was on the field for 47 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Head to head

In 2025 Rico Dowdle scored 12.7 PPR points a game and Kenneth Walker 11.3, 1.4 a game between them.

Rico Dowdle finished RB18 that year and Kenneth Walker RB22.

Rico Dowdle had 15 more carries than Kenneth Walker, 236 to 221.

Rico Dowdle had 8 more catches than Kenneth Walker, 39 to 31.

This season Kenneth Walker holds the bigger snap share, 75 percent against 42 percent.

This season Kenneth Walker holds the bigger share of the carries, 76 percent against 37 percent.

Byes and availability

Rico Dowdle is off in Week 9 and Kenneth Walker in Week 5, so either can cover the other's bye.

Rico Dowdle is listed as questionable on the injury report.