Start Seth McGowan or Demond Claiborne? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Seth McGowan over Demond Claiborne in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Seth McGowan at 2.3 points and Demond Claiborne at 1.8, a gap of 0.5. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Demond Claiborne'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 2.3 fantasy points for Seth McGowan, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market gives Seth McGowan a 9% chance to score a touchdown (16 market sources).

Player markets imply 1.8 fantasy points for Demond Claiborne, with 50 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market gives Demond Claiborne a 8% chance to score a touchdown (16 market sources).

That puts Seth McGowan 0.5 points ahead of Demond Claiborne on the market projections.

Injury status

Seth McGowan is not on the injury report.

Demond Claiborne is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Seth McGowan played 16 percent of IND snaps, took 11 percent of the carries, drew 2 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Seth McGowan, Week 1 against BAL: 6 of 54 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 0 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 2 against KC: 4 of 65 snaps, 2 carries for 0 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 3 against HOU: 11 of 71 snaps, 4 carries for 14 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 4 against WAS: 19 of 66 snaps, 6 carries for 31 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Through Week 4, Demond Claiborne played 7 percent of MIN snaps, took 8 percent of the carries, drew 1 percent of the targets and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

Demond Claiborne, Week 2 against CHI: 2 of 52 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Demond Claiborne, Week 3 against TB: 3 of 59 snaps, 3 carries for 1 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Demond Claiborne, Week 4 against MIA: 9 of 78 snaps, 3 carries for 12 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

How Week 5 went

Seth McGowan scored 2.9 PPR points and Demond Claiborne scored 1.6.

The call was right: Seth McGowan outscored Demond Claiborne by 1.3.

Seth McGowan finished 0.6 points above the 2.3 the market projected.

Seth McGowan, Week 5 against PIT: 5 carries for 16 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 3 yards, 2.9 PPR points.

Seth McGowan finished as the week's RB37 in PPR scoring.

Demond Claiborne finished 0.2 points below the 1.8 the market projected.

Demond Claiborne, Week 5 against NO: 0 carries for 0 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 6 yards, 1.6 PPR points.

Demond Claiborne finished as the week's RB50 in PPR scoring.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Isaiah Davis over Seth McGowan.
• Start Jaylen Wright over Seth McGowan.
• Start Justice Hill over Seth McGowan.
• Start Isaiah Davis over Demond Claiborne.
• Start Justice Hill over Demond Claiborne.
• Start Raheim Sanders over Demond Claiborne.