Start Josh Allen or Deshaun Watson? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Josh Allen over Deshaun Watson in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Josh Allen at 22.8 points and Deshaun Watson at 16.9, a gap of 5.9.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 16.9 fantasy points for Deshaun Watson, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market has Deshaun Watson at 203.5 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 25.5 rushing yards, with a 21% chance to score a touchdown (12, 16, 13 and 15 market sources).

Player markets imply 22.8 fantasy points for Josh Allen, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market has Josh Allen at 244.5 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 36.5 rushing yards, with a 53% chance to score a touchdown (14, 16, 13 and 14 market sources).

That puts Josh Allen 5.9 points ahead of Deshaun Watson on the market projections.

Week 5 matchups

Josh Allen and BUF visit LAR on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

LAR allowed 16.3 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 4 games, the 13th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 154 yards and 1.8 touchdowns a game against LAR, with 0.8 interceptions.

Injury status

Deshaun Watson is not on the injury report.

Josh Allen is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Deshaun Watson played 100 percent of CLE snaps, dropped back 139 times and threw an average of 6.6 air yards per attempt.

Deshaun Watson, Week 1 against JAX: 51 of 51 snaps, 16 of 22 passes for 205 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 6 carries for 38 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 2 against TB: 58 of 58 snaps, 24 of 30 passes for 238 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 5 carries for 24 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 3 against CAR: 69 of 70 snaps, 16 of 30 passes for 144 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 9 carries for 47 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 4 against PIT: 64 of 64 snaps, 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 5 carries for 24 yards.

Through Week 4, Josh Allen played 100 percent of BUF snaps, dropped back 136 times and threw an average of 9.8 air yards per attempt.

Josh Allen, Week 1 against HOU: 58 of 58 snaps, 20 of 29 passes for 334 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 5 carries for 24 yards.

Josh Allen, Week 2 against DET: 74 of 74 snaps, 20 of 31 passes for 248 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 11 carries for 72 yards.

Josh Allen, Week 3 against LAC: 66 of 66 snaps, 16 of 26 passes for 204 yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, 7 carries for 23 yards.

Josh Allen, Week 4 against NE: 59 of 59 snaps, 23 of 33 passes for 253 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 5 carries for 4 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Josh Allen played 17 games for BUF and scored 374.6 PPR points, 22.0 a game, finishing QB1.

He completed 319 of 460 passes for 3668 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and ran 112 times for 579 yards and 14 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 98 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Deshaun Watson over Aaron Rodgers.
• Start Deshaun Watson over Bo Nix.
• Start Deshaun Watson over Brock Purdy.
• Start Josh Allen over Aaron Rodgers.
• Start Josh Allen over Dak Prescott.
• Start Josh Allen over Jacoby Brissett.