Start Mike Gesicki or Chig Okonkwo? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Mike Gesicki over Chig Okonkwo in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Mike Gesicki at 8.4 points and Chig Okonkwo at 7.4, a gap of 1.0. 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 8.4 fantasy points for Mike Gesicki, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market has Mike Gesicki at 30.5 receiving yards and 3.5 receptions, with a 26% chance to score a touchdown (9, 8 and 15 market sources).

Player markets imply 7.4 fantasy points for Chig Okonkwo, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market has Chig Okonkwo at 24.5 receiving yards and 3.5 receptions, with a 21% chance to score a touchdown (15, 12 and 16 market sources).

That puts Mike Gesicki 1.0 points ahead of Chig Okonkwo on the market projections.

Injury status

Mike Gesicki is not on the injury report.

Chig Okonkwo is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Mike Gesicki played 46 percent of CIN snaps, drew 10 percent of the targets, earned 14 percent of the air yards and had 10 percent of the red zone chances.

Mike Gesicki, Week 1 against TB: 21 of 64 snaps, 7 targets and 5 catches for 78 yards, 1 touchdown.

Mike Gesicki, Week 2 against HOU: 21 of 60 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Mike Gesicki, Week 3 against PIT: 29 of 57 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 37 yards, 1 touchdown.

Mike Gesicki, Week 4 against JAX: 47 of 76 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 40 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 4, Chig Okonkwo played 57 percent of WAS snaps, drew 11 percent of the targets, earned 8 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 1 against PHI: 39 of 70 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 16 yards.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 4 against IND: 37 of 64 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 5 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Mike Gesicki played 13 games for CIN and scored 70.7 PPR points, 5.4 a game, finishing TE41.

He caught 28 of 42 targets for 307 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets and 244 air yards.

He was on the field for 38 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Chig Okonkwo played 17 games for TEN and scored 124.0 PPR points, 7.3 a game, finishing TE21.

He caught 56 of 79 targets for 560 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 5 red zone targets and 218 air yards.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 18 of 2025 against JAX: 5 targets and 2 catches for 2 yards, 2.2 PPR points.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Mike Gesicki over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Mike Gesicki.
• Start Mike Gesicki over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start Cade Otton over Chig Okonkwo.