Rico Dowdle or Malik Willis: 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 129th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Malik Willis: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 131st overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 38.

What the player markets price

The market has Rico Dowdle at 8.2 PPR points a game off 2 markets across 13 market sources. That is 70 percent of what a running back's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The player markets price Malik Willis at 15.1 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 18 market sources. That is the 41st highest figure of the 218 players the market prices.

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, Malik Willis has been on the field for 100 percent of MIA snaps, dropped back 127 times and thrown 10.0 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 19 of 127 dropbacks and scrambled 13 times.

In Week 2 against SF he completed 14 of 23 passes for 197 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 6 yards.

In Week 3 against KC he completed 20 of 36 passes for 210 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 9 times for 56 yards.

In Week 4 against MIN he completed 9 of 17 passes for 85 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 11 yards.

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 Malik Willis played 4 games and scored 51.2 PPR points, 12.8 a game, finishing QB45.

He threw for 422 yards on 35 attempts with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, and ran for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns.

That came to 8.8 attempts a game at 12.1 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 10 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Rico Dowdle was available for 13 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Malik Willis scored 12.8 PPR points a game and Rico Dowdle 12.7, 0.1 a game between them.

Rico Dowdle finished RB18 and Malik Willis QB45, which are two different ladders.

Rico Dowdle is a running back and Malik Willis a quarterback, 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 Malik Willis in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

Rico Dowdle is listed as questionable on the injury report.

What would change the answer

Rico Dowdle is only part priced, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.