Terry McLaurin or Rico Dowdle: who should I start in Week 5?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Terry McLaurin: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 171st overall on the rest of his evidence.

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.

What the player markets price

The market has Terry McLaurin at 2.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 14 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.

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.

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

This season so far

Through Week 3, Terry McLaurin has been on the field for 78 percent of WAS snaps, drawn 24 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 5 of the offence's 26 third down targets, had 1 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 2 of its 9 two minute targets.

His 22 targets have averaged 13.0 air yards.

In Week 1 against PHI he caught 2 of 4 targets for 14 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against DAL he caught 2 of 9 targets for 50 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against SEA he caught 6 of 9 targets for 77 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Terry McLaurin played 10 games and scored 114.2 PPR points, 11.4 a game, finishing WR56.

He caught 38 of 60 targets for 582 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets.

That came to 6.0 targets a game, a 63 percent catch rate and 15.3 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 70 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

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.

Rico Dowdle was available for 7 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Rico Dowdle scored 12.7 PPR points a game and Terry McLaurin 11.4, 1.3 a game between them.

Terry McLaurin finished WR56 and Rico Dowdle RB18, which are two different ladders.

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

Byes and availability

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

Terry McLaurin is listed as questionable on the injury report.

Rico Dowdle is listed as questionable on the injury report.