Start Sione Vaki or Demond Claiborne? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Sione Vaki over Demond Claiborne in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Sione Vaki at 2.5 points and Demond Claiborne at 1.8, a gap of 0.7. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Both numbers are scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is. Market coverage on Sione Vaki is 70 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 2.5 fantasy points for Sione Vaki, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Sione Vaki at 8.5 rushing yards, with a 12% chance to score a touchdown (15 and 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 Sione Vaki 0.7 points ahead of Demond Claiborne on the market projections.

Injury status

Sione Vaki is not on the injury report.

Demond Claiborne is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Sione Vaki played 23 percent of DET snaps, took 9 percent of the carries, drew 3 percent of the targets and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

Sione Vaki, Week 1 against NO: 22 of 77 snaps, 2 carries for 7 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 2 against BUF: 11 of 65 snaps, 1 carry for 7 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 13 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 3 against NYJ: 20 of 65 snaps, 6 carries for 26 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 4 against CAR: 12 of 71 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 17 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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Sione Vaki played 11 games for DET and scored 0.4 PPR points, 0.0 a game, finishing RB143.

He ran 1 time for 4 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 0 of 0 targets for 0 yards.

He was on the field for 0 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Sione Vaki.
• Start Dameon Pierce over Sione Vaki.
• Start Isaiah Davis over Sione Vaki.
• Start Isaiah Davis over Demond Claiborne.
• Start Justice Hill over Demond Claiborne.
• Start Raheim Sanders over Demond Claiborne.