Start Xavier Hutchinson or Elic Ayomanor? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Xavier Hutchinson over Elic Ayomanor in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Xavier Hutchinson at 4.5 points and Elic Ayomanor at 4.1, 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 4.5 fantasy points for Xavier Hutchinson, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Xavier Hutchinson at 18.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 16% chance to score a touchdown (8, 6 and 12 market sources).

Player markets imply 4.1 fantasy points for Elic Ayomanor, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Elic Ayomanor at 16.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 14% chance to score a touchdown (10, 7 and 11 market sources).

That puts Xavier Hutchinson 0.4 points ahead of Elic Ayomanor on the market projections.

Injury status

Xavier Hutchinson is not on the injury report.

Elic Ayomanor is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Xavier Hutchinson played 58 percent of HOU snaps, drew 19 percent of the targets, earned 24 percent of the air yards and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

Xavier Hutchinson, Week 1 against BUF: 44 of 79 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 32 yards.

Xavier Hutchinson, Week 2 against CIN: 65 of 80 snaps, 9 targets and 3 catches for 37 yards.

Xavier Hutchinson, Week 3 against IND: 29 of 54 snaps, 2 carries for 4 yards, 6 targets and 3 catches for 51 yards.

Xavier Hutchinson, Week 4 against DAL: 17 of 55 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 46 yards.

Through Week 4, Elic Ayomanor played 63 percent of TEN snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 15 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

Elic Ayomanor, Week 1 against NYJ: 26 of 50 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 11 yards, 1 touchdown.

Elic Ayomanor, Week 2 against PHI: 28 of 53 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 69 yards.

Elic Ayomanor, Week 3 against NYG: 48 of 60 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Elic Ayomanor, Week 4 against BAL: 40 of 64 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 22 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Xavier Hutchinson played 17 games for HOU and scored 98.0 PPR points, 5.8 a game, finishing WR64.

He caught 35 of 57 targets for 428 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets and 282 air yards.

He was on the field for 57 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Elic Ayomanor played 16 games for TEN and scored 116.5 PPR points, 7.3 a game, finishing WR55.

He caught 41 of 89 targets for 515 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets and 400 air yards.

He was on the field for 79 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Brian Thomas Jr. over Xavier Hutchinson.
• Start Xavier Hutchinson over Darnell Mooney.
• Start Isaac TeSlaa over Xavier Hutchinson.
• Start Brian Thomas Jr. over Elic Ayomanor.
• Start Elic Ayomanor over Calvin Ridley.
• Start Elic Ayomanor over Chris Godwin Jr..