Start Christian McCaffrey or Derrick Henry? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Christian McCaffrey over Derrick Henry in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Christian McCaffrey at 18.5 points and Derrick Henry at 17.7, a gap of 0.7. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Derrick Henry'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 18.5 fantasy points for Christian McCaffrey, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Christian McCaffrey at 53.5 rushing yards, 35.5 receiving yards and 4.5 receptions, with a 57% chance to score a touchdown (16, 16, 12 and 15 market sources).

Player markets imply 17.7 fantasy points for Derrick Henry, with 80 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Derrick Henry at 85.5 rushing yards, with a 57% chance to score a touchdown (15 and 15 market sources).

That puts Christian McCaffrey 0.7 points ahead of Derrick Henry on the market projections.

Injury status

Christian McCaffrey is not on the injury report.

Derrick Henry is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Christian McCaffrey played 66 percent of SF snaps, took 45 percent of the carries, drew 20 percent of the targets and had 35 percent of the red zone chances.

Christian McCaffrey, Week 1 against LAR: 36 of 65 snaps, 10 carries for 68 yards, 8 targets and 5 catches for 20 yards.

Christian McCaffrey, Week 2 against MIA: 27 of 52 snaps, 10 carries for 23 yards, 4 targets and 4 catches for 43 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Christian McCaffrey, Week 3 against ARI: 45 of 54 snaps, 15 carries for 75 yards, 5 targets and 4 catches for 41 yards, 1 touchdown.

Christian McCaffrey, Week 4 against DEN: 49 of 66 snaps, 15 carries for 52 yards, 5 targets and 3 catches for 18 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 4, Derrick Henry played 59 percent of BAL snaps, took 73 percent of the carries, drew 7 percent of the targets and had 55 percent of the red zone chances.

Derrick Henry, Week 1 against IND: 37 of 68 snaps, 24 carries for 144 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 19 yards, 3 touchdowns.

Derrick Henry, Week 2 against NO: 31 of 58 snaps, 16 carries for 68 yards, 3 targets and 3 catches for 19 yards, 1 touchdown.

Derrick Henry, Week 3 against DAL: 43 of 64 snaps, 26 carries for 89 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 0 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Derrick Henry, Week 4 against TEN: 40 of 64 snaps, 23 carries for 73 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 6 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Christian McCaffrey played 17 games for SF and scored 416.6 PPR points, 24.5 a game, finishing RB1.

He ran 311 times for 1202 yards and 10 touchdowns, and caught 102 of 129 targets for 924 yards.

He was on the field for 83 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Derrick Henry played 17 games for BAL and scored 279.5 PPR points, 16.4 a game, finishing RB8.

He ran 307 times for 1595 yards and 16 touchdowns, and caught 15 of 21 targets for 150 yards.

He was on the field for 54 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Christian McCaffrey over Aaron Jones Sr..
• Start Christian McCaffrey over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start Bijan Robinson over Christian McCaffrey.
• Start Derrick Henry over Aaron Jones Sr..
• Start Derrick Henry over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start Bijan Robinson over Derrick Henry.