Start David Montgomery or Kaleb Johnson? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start David Montgomery over Kaleb Johnson in Week 5.

Market-based projections have David Montgomery at 10.7 points and Kaleb Johnson at 9.7, a gap of 1.1. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Kaleb Johnson'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 10.7 fantasy points for David Montgomery, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has David Montgomery at 46.5 rushing yards, 8.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 46% chance to score a touchdown (9, 8, 7 and 12 market sources).

Player markets imply 9.7 fantasy points for Kaleb Johnson, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Kaleb Johnson at 37.5 rushing yards, with a 34% chance to score a touchdown (3 and 14 market sources).

That puts David Montgomery 1.1 points ahead of Kaleb Johnson on the market projections.

Injury status

David Montgomery is not on the injury report.

Kaleb Johnson is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, David Montgomery played 54 percent of HOU snaps, took 52 percent of the carries, drew 5 percent of the targets and had 35 percent of the red zone chances.

David Montgomery, Week 1 against BUF: 39 of 79 snaps, 20 carries for 60 yards, 3 targets and 3 catches for 19 yards, 3 touchdowns.

David Montgomery, Week 2 against CIN: 42 of 80 snaps, 6 carries for 10 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 14 yards.

David Montgomery, Week 3 against IND: 34 of 54 snaps, 11 carries for 33 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 15 yards.

David Montgomery, Week 4 against DAL: 31 of 55 snaps, 10 carries for 24 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 4, Kaleb Johnson played 31 percent of GB snaps, took 41 percent of the carries, drew 3 percent of the targets and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

Kaleb Johnson, Week 2 against NYJ: 16 of 59 snaps, 8 carries for 32 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Kaleb Johnson, Week 3 against ATL: 24 of 66 snaps, 4 carries for 6 yards, 3 targets and 1 catch for 10 yards.

Kaleb Johnson, Week 4 against TB: 17 of 60 snaps, 8 carries for 42 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, David Montgomery played 17 games for DET and scored 166.9 PPR points, 9.8 a game, finishing RB27.

He ran 158 times for 716 yards and 8 touchdowns, and caught 24 of 29 targets for 192 yards.

He was on the field for 37 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Kaleb Johnson played 10 games for PIT and scored 8.8 PPR points, 0.9 a game, finishing RB115.

He ran 28 times for 69 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 1 of 2 targets for 9 yards.

He was on the field for 6 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Bucky Irving over David Montgomery.
• Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt over David Montgomery.
• Start David Montgomery over J.K. Dobbins.
• Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt over Kaleb Johnson.
• Start Kaleb Johnson over J.K. Dobbins.
• Start Kaleb Johnson over MarShawn Lloyd.