Start Darius Cooper or Jaylin Noel? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Darius Cooper over Jaylin Noel in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Darius Cooper at 5.7 points and Jaylin Noel at 4.5, a gap of 1.2. 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 5.7 fantasy points for Darius Cooper, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Darius Cooper at 21.5 receiving yards and 2.5 receptions, with a 14% chance to score a touchdown (16, 16 and 15 market sources).

Player markets imply 4.5 fantasy points for Jaylin Noel, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Jaylin Noel at 19.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 15% chance to score a touchdown (14, 14 and 15 market sources).

That puts Darius Cooper 1.2 points ahead of Jaylin Noel on the market projections.

Injury status

Darius Cooper is not on the injury report.

Jaylin Noel is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Darius Cooper played 41 percent of PHI snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 14 percent of the air yards and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

Darius Cooper, Week 1 against WAS: 8 of 55 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Darius Cooper, Week 2 against TEN: 31 of 76 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 26 yards, 1 touchdown.

Darius Cooper, Week 3 against CHI: 5 of 50 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Darius Cooper, Week 4 against LAR: 55 of 61 snaps, 7 targets and 3 catches for 33 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Through Week 4, Jaylin Noel played 45 percent of HOU snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 10 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

Jaylin Noel, Week 1 against BUF: 24 of 79 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 53 yards.

Jaylin Noel, Week 2 against CIN: 48 of 80 snaps, 1 carry for 13 yards, 5 targets and 1 catch for 31 yards.

Jaylin Noel, Week 3 against IND: 14 of 54 snaps, 1 carry for 8 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 17 yards.

Jaylin Noel, Week 4 against DAL: 34 of 55 snaps, 1 carry for 4 yards, 3 targets and 3 catches for 85 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Darius Cooper played 13 games for PHI and scored 18.2 PPR points, 1.4 a game.

He caught 9 of 11 targets for 92 yards and 0 touchdowns, with 0 red zone targets and 70 air yards.

He was on the field for 19 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Jaylin Noel played 17 games for HOU and scored 68.4 PPR points, 4.0 a game, finishing WR91.

He caught 26 of 35 targets for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 5 red zone targets and 193 air yards.

He was on the field for 27 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

How Week 5 went

Darius Cooper scored 15.1 PPR points and Jaylin Noel scored 15.2.

The call was wrong: Jaylin Noel outscored Darius Cooper by 0.1.

Darius Cooper finished 9.4 points above the 5.7 the market projected.

Darius Cooper, Week 5 against JAX: 3 targets and 2 catches for 71 yards, 1 touchdown, 15.1 PPR points.

Darius Cooper finished as the week's WR16 in PPR scoring.

Jaylin Noel finished 10.7 points above the 4.5 the market projected.

Jaylin Noel, Week 5 against TEN: 1 carry for 1 yards, 5 targets and 5 catches for 41 yards, 1 touchdown, 15.2 PPR points.

Jaylin Noel finished as the week's WR15 in PPR scoring.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Brian Thomas Jr. over Darius Cooper.
• Start Darius Cooper over Cody White.
• Start Cooper Kupp over Darius Cooper.
• Start Brian Thomas Jr. over Jaylin Noel.
• Start Cody White over Jaylin Noel.
• Start Jaylin Noel over Darnell Mooney.