Start Darnell Washington or Colby Parkinson? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Darnell Washington over Colby Parkinson in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Darnell Washington at 6.4 points and Colby Parkinson at 5.4, 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 5.4 fantasy points for Colby Parkinson, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market has Colby Parkinson at 16.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 30% chance to score a touchdown (5, 4 and 12 market sources).

Player markets imply 6.4 fantasy points for Darnell Washington, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market has Darnell Washington at 22.5 receiving yards and 2.5 receptions, with a 23% chance to score a touchdown (13, 14 and 13 market sources).

That puts Darnell Washington 1.0 points ahead of Colby Parkinson on the market projections.

Injury status

Colby Parkinson is listed as questionable with a shoulder - ac joint injury.

Darnell Washington is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 3, Colby Parkinson played 61 percent of LAR snaps, drew 5 percent of the targets, earned 1 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Colby Parkinson, Week 1 against SF: 47 of 61 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 6 yards.

Colby Parkinson, Week 2 against NYG: 44 of 62 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 15 yards.

Colby Parkinson, Week 3 against DEN: 37 of 86 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 4, Darnell Washington played 66 percent of PIT snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 5 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Darnell Washington, Week 1 against ATL: 43 of 67 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 18 yards.

Darnell Washington, Week 2 against NE: 37 of 70 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Darnell Washington, Week 3 against CIN: 47 of 62 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 67 yards.

Darnell Washington, Week 4 against CLE: 51 of 72 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 27 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Colby Parkinson played 15 games for LAR and scored 129.8 PPR points, 8.7 a game, finishing TE17.

He caught 43 of 56 targets for 408 yards and 8 touchdowns, with 20 red zone targets and 137 air yards.

He was on the field for 59 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Darnell Washington played 16 games for PIT and scored 73.4 PPR points, 4.6 a game, finishing TE39.

He caught 31 of 43 targets for 364 yards and 1 touchdown, with 8 red zone targets and 135 air yards.

He was on the field for 57 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Kyle Pitts Sr. over Colby Parkinson.
• Start AJ Barner over Darnell Washington.
• Start Cade Otton over Darnell Washington.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Darnell Washington.