Start Chase Brown or Saquon Barkley? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Chase Brown over Saquon Barkley in Week 5.

Saquon Barkley is listed out on the injury report, so this is not a close call: start Chase Brown. Drafters take Chase Brown at ADP 5 and Saquon Barkley at 3.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 19.2 fantasy points for Chase Brown, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Chase Brown at 67.5 rushing yards, with a 60% chance to score a touchdown (16 and 17 market sources).

No player market was posted for Saquon Barkley in Week 5.

Week 5 matchups

Chase Brown and CIN visit MIA on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

MIA allowed 27.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 4 games, the 5th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 100 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against MIA and caught passes for 42 more yards.

Saquon Barkley and PHI visit JAX on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

JAX allowed 17.5 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 4 games, the 10th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 48 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against JAX and caught passes for 48 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Chase Brown has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Chase Brown is not on the injury report.

Saquon Barkley is listed as out with a hamstring injury.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Chase Brown played 73 percent of CIN snaps, took 72 percent of the carries, drew 15 percent of the targets and had 26 percent of the red zone chances.

Chase Brown, Week 1 against TB: 46 of 64 snaps, 16 carries for 56 yards, 6 targets and 5 catches for 22 yards, 1 touchdown.

Chase Brown, Week 2 against HOU: 42 of 60 snaps, 20 carries for 80 yards, 5 targets and 3 catches for 2 yards.

Chase Brown, Week 3 against PIT: 40 of 57 snaps, 13 carries for 61 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 8 yards.

Chase Brown, Week 4 against JAX: 60 of 76 snaps, 9 carries for 10 yards, 11 targets and 11 catches for 71 yards.

Through Week 4, Saquon Barkley played 38 percent of PHI snaps, took 36 percent of the carries, drew 7 percent of the targets and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

Saquon Barkley, Week 1 against WAS: 39 of 55 snaps, 15 carries for 83 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for -3 yards.

Saquon Barkley, Week 2 against TEN: 12 of 76 snaps, 4 carries for 9 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Saquon Barkley, Week 3 against CHI: 36 of 50 snaps, 15 carries for 82 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for -2 yards.

Saquon Barkley, Week 4 against LAR: 4 of 61 snaps, 2 carries for 8 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Chase Brown played 17 games for CIN and scored 282.6 PPR points, 16.6 a game, finishing RB7.

He ran 232 times for 1019 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 69 of 88 targets for 437 yards.

He was on the field for 67 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Saquon Barkley played 16 games for PHI and scored 232.3 PPR points, 14.5 a game, finishing RB14.

He ran 280 times for 1140 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 37 of 50 targets for 273 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 Aaron Jones Sr. over Chase Brown.
• Start Chase Brown over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start Bijan Robinson over Chase Brown.
• Start Isaiah Davis over Saquon Barkley.
• Start Jahmyr Gibbs over Saquon Barkley.
• Start Justice Hill over Saquon Barkley.