Start David Montgomery or MarShawn Lloyd? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start David Montgomery over MarShawn Lloyd in Week 5.

Market-based projections have David Montgomery at 10.5 points and MarShawn Lloyd at 10.1, a gap of 0.4. 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 10.5 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, 7.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 45% chance to score a touchdown (14, 11, 14 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 10.1 fantasy points for MarShawn Lloyd, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has MarShawn Lloyd at 27.5 rushing yards, 12.5 receiving yards and 2.5 receptions, with a 44% chance to score a touchdown (12, 12, 12 and 14 market sources).

That puts David Montgomery 0.4 points ahead of MarShawn Lloyd on the market projections.

Injury status

David Montgomery is not on the injury report.

MarShawn Lloyd 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, MarShawn Lloyd played 37 percent of GB snaps, took 43 percent of the carries, drew 7 percent of the targets and had 27 percent of the red zone chances.

MarShawn Lloyd, Week 1 against MIN: 30 of 68 snaps, 13 carries for 37 yards, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

MarShawn Lloyd, Week 2 against NYJ: 16 of 59 snaps, 6 carries for 20 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 6 yards, 1 touchdown.

MarShawn Lloyd, Week 3 against ATL: 15 of 66 snaps, 4 carries for 11 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 7 yards.

MarShawn Lloyd, Week 4 against TB: 33 of 60 snaps, 7 carries for 13 yards, 5 targets and 5 catches for 36 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.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Bucky Irving over David Montgomery.
• Start Cam Skattebo over David Montgomery.
• Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt over David Montgomery.
• Start MarShawn Lloyd over Brian Robinson.
• Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt over MarShawn Lloyd.
• Start J.K. Dobbins over MarShawn Lloyd.