Start Dameon Pierce or Sione Vaki? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Dameon Pierce over Sione Vaki in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Dameon Pierce at 3.9 points and Sione Vaki at 2.5, a gap of 1.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Sione Vaki'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 3.9 fantasy points for Dameon Pierce, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Dameon Pierce at 22.5 rushing yards, with a 17% chance to score a touchdown (16 and 15 market sources).

Player markets imply 2.5 fantasy points for Sione Vaki, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Sione Vaki at 8.5 rushing yards, with a 12% chance to score a touchdown (15 and 15 market sources).

That puts Dameon Pierce 1.4 points ahead of Sione Vaki on the market projections.

Injury status

Dameon Pierce is not on the injury report.

Sione Vaki is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Sione Vaki played 23 percent of DET snaps, took 9 percent of the carries, drew 3 percent of the targets and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

Sione Vaki, Week 1 against NO: 22 of 77 snaps, 2 carries for 7 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 2 against BUF: 11 of 65 snaps, 1 carry for 7 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 13 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 3 against NYJ: 20 of 65 snaps, 6 carries for 26 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 4 against CAR: 12 of 71 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 17 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Dameon Pierce played 5 games for KC and scored 3.6 PPR points, 0.7 a game, finishing RB128.

He ran 14 times for 36 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards.

He was on the field for 8 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Dameon Pierce, Week 18 of 2025 against LV: 4 carries for 10 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1.0 PPR points.

In 2025, Sione Vaki played 11 games for DET and scored 0.4 PPR points, 0.0 a game, finishing RB143.

He ran 1 time for 4 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 0 of 0 targets for 0 yards.

He was on the field for 0 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Dameon Pierce.
• Start Dameon Pierce over Isaiah Davis.
• Start Jaylen Wright over Dameon Pierce.
• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Sione Vaki.
• Start Sione Vaki over Demond Claiborne.
• Start Isaiah Davis over Sione Vaki.