Start Bijan Robinson or James Cook III? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Bijan Robinson over James Cook III in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Bijan Robinson at 21.9 points and James Cook III at 18.5, a gap of 3.4. James Cook III's number is scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 21.9 fantasy points for Bijan Robinson, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Bijan Robinson at 89.5 rushing yards, 26.5 receiving yards and 3.5 receptions, with a 67% chance to score a touchdown (13, 14, 11 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 18.5 fantasy points for James Cook III, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has James Cook III at 75.5 rushing yards, with a 53% chance to score a touchdown (9 and 13 market sources).

That puts Bijan Robinson 3.4 points ahead of James Cook III on the market projections.

Week 5 matchups

James Cook III and BUF visit LAR on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

LAR allowed 15.5 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 4 games, the 3rd fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 82 yards and no touchdowns a game against LAR and caught passes for 26 more yards.

Injury status

Bijan Robinson is not on the injury report.

James Cook III is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Bijan Robinson played 65 percent of ATL snaps, took 63 percent of the carries, drew 19 percent of the targets and had 67 percent of the red zone chances.

Bijan Robinson, Week 1 against PIT: 46 of 60 snaps, 21 carries for 83 yards, 10 targets and 8 catches for 90 yards, 1 touchdown.

Bijan Robinson, Week 2 against CAR: 35 of 69 snaps, 16 carries for 72 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 9 yards.

Bijan Robinson, Week 3 against GB: 51 of 71 snaps, 29 carries for 194 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 19 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Bijan Robinson, Week 4 against NO: 34 of 57 snaps, 19 carries for 145 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 2 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Bijan Robinson played 17 games for ATL and scored 370.8 PPR points, 21.8 a game, finishing RB2.

He ran 287 times for 1478 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 79 of 103 targets for 820 yards.

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

In 2025, James Cook III played 17 games for BUF and scored 302.2 PPR points, 17.8 a game, finishing RB6.

He ran 309 times for 1621 yards and 12 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 40 targets for 291 yards.

He was on the field for 60 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

James Cook III, Week 18 of 2025 against NYJ: 2 carries for 15 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1.5 PPR points.

James Cook III, Week 17 of 2025 against PHI: 39 of 76 snaps, 20 carries for 74 yards, 4 targets and 1 catch for 3 yards, 8.7 PPR points.

James Cook III, Week 16 of 2025 against CLE: 28 of 50 snaps, 16 carries for 117 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 17 yards, 2 touchdowns, 26.4 PPR points.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Bijan Robinson over Aaron Jones Sr..
• Start Bijan Robinson over Chase Brown.
• Start Bijan Robinson over Christian McCaffrey.
• Start James Cook III over Aaron Jones Sr..
• Start James Cook III over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start James Cook III over Bhayshul Tuten.