Start AJ Barner or Colby Parkinson? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start AJ Barner over Colby Parkinson in Week 5.

Market-based projections have AJ Barner at 6.4 points and Colby Parkinson at 5.2, a gap of 1.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 6.4 fantasy points for AJ Barner, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market has AJ Barner at 22.5 receiving yards and 2.5 receptions, with a 23% chance to score a touchdown (15, 17 and 16 market sources).

Player markets imply 5.2 fantasy points for Colby Parkinson, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market has Colby Parkinson at 16.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 28% chance to score a touchdown (16, 16 and 16 market sources).

That puts AJ Barner 1.2 points ahead of Colby Parkinson on the market projections.

Injury status

AJ Barner is not on the injury report.

Colby Parkinson is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, AJ Barner played 87 percent of SEA snaps, drew 13 percent of the targets, earned 4 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

AJ Barner, Week 1 against NE: 44 of 50 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 13 yards.

AJ Barner, Week 2 against ARI: 56 of 70 snaps, 1 carry for 1 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 8 yards, 1 touchdown.

AJ Barner, Week 3 against WAS: 61 of 67 snaps, 9 targets and 5 catches for 69 yards.

AJ Barner, Week 4 against LAC: 54 of 60 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 12 yards.

Through Week 3, Colby Parkinson played 61 percent of LAR snaps, drew 5 percent of the targets, earned 1 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Colby Parkinson, Week 1 against SF: 47 of 61 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 6 yards.

Colby Parkinson, Week 2 against NYG: 44 of 62 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 15 yards.

Colby Parkinson, Week 3 against DEN: 37 of 86 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, AJ Barner played 17 games for SEA and scored 147.3 PPR points, 8.7 a game, finishing TE14.

He caught 52 of 68 targets for 519 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets and 248 air yards.

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

In 2025, Colby Parkinson played 15 games for LAR and scored 129.8 PPR points, 8.7 a game, finishing TE17.

He caught 43 of 56 targets for 408 yards and 8 touchdowns, with 20 red zone targets and 137 air yards.

He was on the field for 59 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Brenton Strange over AJ Barner.
• Start Brock Bowers over AJ Barner.
• Start Cade Otton over AJ Barner.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Darnell Washington over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Evan Engram over Colby Parkinson.