Start Jaylen Waddle or Carnell Tate? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Carnell Tate over Jaylen Waddle in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Carnell Tate at 11.3 points and Jaylen Waddle at 12.1, a gap of 0.8. 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 12.1 fantasy points for Jaylen Waddle, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Jaylen Waddle at 52.5 receiving yards and 4.5 receptions, with a 32% chance to score a touchdown (16, 13 and 15 market sources).

Player markets imply 11.3 fantasy points for Carnell Tate, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Carnell Tate at 52.5 receiving yards and 4.5 receptions, with a 22% chance to score a touchdown (12, 9 and 12 market sources).

That puts Jaylen Waddle 0.8 points ahead of Carnell Tate on the market projections.

Week 5 matchups

Jaylen Waddle and DEN visit LAC on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAC allowed 33.4 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 4 games, the 15th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 148 yards and a touchdown a game against LAC.

Injury status

Jaylen Waddle is not on the injury report.

Carnell Tate is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Jaylen Waddle played 69 percent of DEN snaps, drew 21 percent of the targets, earned 38 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 1 against KC: 38 of 51 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 2 against JAX: 38 of 62 snaps, 10 targets and 8 catches for 138 yards.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 3 against LAR: 49 of 67 snaps, 1 carry for 14 yards, 7 targets and 2 catches for 10 yards.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 4 against SF: 45 of 65 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 35 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 4, Carnell Tate played 84 percent of TEN snaps, drew 30 percent of the targets, earned 48 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Carnell Tate, Week 1 against NYJ: 44 of 50 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 38 yards.

Carnell Tate, Week 2 against PHI: 40 of 53 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 27 yards.

Carnell Tate, Week 3 against NYG: 53 of 60 snaps, 9 targets and 6 catches for 58 yards.

Carnell Tate, Week 4 against BAL: 54 of 64 snaps, 12 targets and 9 catches for 145 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Jaylen Waddle played 16 games for MIA and scored 194.1 PPR points, 12.1 a game, finishing WR24.

He caught 64 of 100 targets for 910 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets and 682 air yards.

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

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Chris Olave over Jaylen Waddle.
• Start Christian Watson over Jaylen Waddle.
• Start DeVonta Smith over Jaylen Waddle.
• Start Christian Watson over Carnell Tate.
• Start Davante Adams over Carnell Tate.
• Start Carnell Tate over Deebo Samuel Sr..