Start Xavier Hutchinson or Darnell Mooney? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Xavier Hutchinson over Darnell Mooney in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Xavier Hutchinson at 4.5 points and Darnell Mooney at 4.3, a gap of 0.1. 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 4.5 fantasy points for Xavier Hutchinson, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Xavier Hutchinson at 18.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 16% chance to score a touchdown (8, 6 and 12 market sources).

Player markets imply 4.3 fantasy points for Darnell Mooney, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Darnell Mooney at 18.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 13% chance to score a touchdown (14, 12 and 15 market sources).

That puts Xavier Hutchinson 0.1 points ahead of Darnell Mooney on the market projections.

Injury status

Xavier Hutchinson is not on the injury report.

Darnell Mooney is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Xavier Hutchinson played 58 percent of HOU snaps, drew 19 percent of the targets, earned 24 percent of the air yards and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

Xavier Hutchinson, Week 1 against BUF: 44 of 79 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 32 yards.

Xavier Hutchinson, Week 2 against CIN: 65 of 80 snaps, 9 targets and 3 catches for 37 yards.

Xavier Hutchinson, Week 3 against IND: 29 of 54 snaps, 2 carries for 4 yards, 6 targets and 3 catches for 51 yards.

Xavier Hutchinson, Week 4 against DAL: 17 of 55 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 46 yards.

Through Week 4, Darnell Mooney played 57 percent of NYG snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

Darnell Mooney, Week 1 against DAL: 39 of 69 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 27 yards.

Darnell Mooney, Week 2 against LAR: 42 of 58 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 48 yards.

Darnell Mooney, Week 3 against TEN: 28 of 64 snaps, 1 carry for 9 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 20 yards.

Darnell Mooney, Week 4 against ARI: 37 of 67 snaps, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Xavier Hutchinson played 17 games for HOU and scored 98.0 PPR points, 5.8 a game, finishing WR64.

He caught 35 of 57 targets for 428 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets and 282 air yards.

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

In 2025, Darnell Mooney played 15 games for ATL and scored 82.3 PPR points, 5.5 a game, finishing WR79.

He caught 32 of 72 targets for 443 yards and 1 touchdown, with 7 red zone targets and 370 air yards.

He was on the field for 82 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Brian Thomas Jr. over Xavier Hutchinson.
• Start Xavier Hutchinson over Elic Ayomanor.
• Start Isaac TeSlaa over Xavier Hutchinson.
• Start Darnell Mooney over Calvin Ridley.
• Start Darnell Mooney over Elic Ayomanor.
• Start Jahan Dotson over Darnell Mooney.