Start Matthew Stafford or Deshaun Watson? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Matthew Stafford over Deshaun Watson in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Matthew Stafford at 20.6 points and Deshaun Watson at 16.9, a gap of 3.7.

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 20.6 fantasy points for Matthew Stafford, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market has Matthew Stafford at 279.5 passing yards, 2.5 passing touchdowns and 0.5 rushing yards, with a 5% chance to score a touchdown (12, 16, 9 and 13 market sources).

That puts Matthew Stafford 3.7 points ahead of Deshaun Watson on the market projections.

Injury status

Deshaun Watson is not on the injury report.

Matthew Stafford 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, Matthew Stafford played 97 percent of LAR snaps, dropped back 169 times and threw an average of 9.6 air yards per attempt.

Matthew Stafford, Week 1 against SF: 51 of 61 snaps, 15 of 25 passes for 155 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 0 yards.

Matthew Stafford, Week 2 against NYG: 62 of 62 snaps, 22 of 30 passes for 327 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 2 yards.

Matthew Stafford, Week 3 against DEN: 86 of 86 snaps, 30 of 53 passes for 390 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, 2 carries for 13 yards.

Matthew Stafford, Week 4 against PHI: 84 of 84 snaps, 32 of 51 passes for 317 yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, 2 carries for 11 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Matthew Stafford played 17 games for LAR and scored 358.4 PPR points, 21.1 a game, finishing QB3.

He completed 388 of 597 passes for 4707 yards, 46 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, and ran 29 times for 1 yards and 0 touchdowns.

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 Matthew Stafford over Aaron Rodgers.
• Start Matthew Stafford over C.J. Stroud.
• Start Dak Prescott over Matthew Stafford.