Rico Dowdle or Ladd McConkey: 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 177th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Ladd McConkey: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 178th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes half PPR: ADP 2; standard: ADP 14; 2QB: ADP 36.

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.

The market has Ladd McConkey at 2.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 6 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

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, Ladd McConkey has been on the field for 54 percent of LAC snaps, drawn 15 percent of the targets and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 37 third down targets, had 0 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 13 two minute targets.

His 17 targets have averaged 13.4 air yards.

In Week 2 against LV he caught 3 of 3 targets for 35 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against BUF he caught 4 of 5 targets for 66 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against SEA he caught 0 of 2 targets for 0 yards and did not score.

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 Ladd McConkey played 16 games and scored 180.9 PPR points, 11.3 a game, finishing WR30.

He caught 66 of 106 targets for 789 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets.

That came to 6.6 targets a game, a 62 percent catch rate and 12.0 yards a catch.

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

Rico Dowdle was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

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

Rico Dowdle finished RB18 and Ladd McConkey WR30, which are two different ladders.

Rico Dowdle is a running back and Ladd McConkey a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Rico Dowdle is off in Week 9 and Ladd McConkey in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.

Rico Dowdle is listed as questionable on the injury report.

Ladd McConkey is listed as questionable on the injury report.