Start Deshaun Watson or Kyler Murray? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Deshaun Watson over Kyler Murray in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Deshaun Watson at 16.9 points and Kyler Murray at 16.5, 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 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 20% chance to score a touchdown (14, 16, 13 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 16.5 fantasy points for Kyler Murray, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market has Kyler Murray at 213.5 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 17.5 rushing yards, with a 18% chance to score a touchdown (15, 16, 15 and 14 market sources).

That puts Deshaun Watson 0.4 points ahead of Kyler Murray on the market projections.

Injury status

Deshaun Watson is not on the injury report.

Kyler Murray 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, Kyler Murray played 73 percent of MIN snaps, dropped back 84 times and threw an average of 6.5 air yards per attempt.

Kyler Murray, Week 1 against GB: 11 of 65 snaps, 3 of 5 passes for 18 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 2 carries for 9 yards.

Kyler Murray, Week 3 against TB: 59 of 59 snaps, 15 of 29 passes for 168 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 2 carries for 17 yards.

Kyler Murray, Week 4 against MIA: 78 of 78 snaps, 27 of 37 passes for 247 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 21 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Kyler Murray played 5 games for ARI and scored 80.8 PPR points, 16.2 a game, finishing QB38.

He completed 110 of 161 passes for 962 yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, and ran 29 times for 173 yards and 1 touchdown.

He was on the field for 99 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 Kyler Murray over Aaron Rodgers.
• Start Kyler Murray over Bo Nix.
• Start Brock Purdy over Kyler Murray.