Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt or Kaleb Johnson? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt over Kaleb Johnson in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Jacory Croskey-Merritt at 10.8 points and Kaleb Johnson at 9.7, a gap of 1.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Kaleb Johnson's number is scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 10.8 fantasy points for Jacory Croskey-Merritt, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Jacory Croskey-Merritt at 55.5 rushing yards, with a 38% chance to score a touchdown (12 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 9.7 fantasy points for Kaleb Johnson, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Kaleb Johnson at 37.5 rushing yards, with a 34% chance to score a touchdown (3 and 14 market sources).

That puts Jacory Croskey-Merritt 1.2 points ahead of Kaleb Johnson on the market projections.

Injury status

Jacory Croskey-Merritt is listed as questionable with a groin injury.

Kaleb Johnson is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Jacory Croskey-Merritt played 47 percent of WAS snaps, took 48 percent of the carries, drew 5 percent of the targets and had 21 percent of the red zone chances.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Week 1 against PHI: 34 of 70 snaps, 16 carries for 63 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for -7 yards, 1 touchdown.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Week 2 against DAL: 26 of 71 snaps, 12 carries for 43 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Week 3 against SEA: 39 of 69 snaps, 19 carries for 36 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Week 4 against IND: 29 of 64 snaps, 9 carries for 15 yards, 4 targets and 2 catches for 35 yards.

Through Week 4, Kaleb Johnson played 31 percent of GB snaps, took 41 percent of the carries, drew 3 percent of the targets and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

Kaleb Johnson, Week 2 against NYJ: 16 of 59 snaps, 8 carries for 32 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Kaleb Johnson, Week 3 against ATL: 24 of 66 snaps, 4 carries for 6 yards, 3 targets and 1 catch for 10 yards.

Kaleb Johnson, Week 4 against TB: 17 of 60 snaps, 8 carries for 42 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Jacory Croskey-Merritt played 17 games for WAS and scored 140.3 PPR points, 8.3 a game, finishing RB33.

He ran 175 times for 805 yards and 8 touchdowns, and caught 9 of 13 targets for 68 yards.

He was on the field for 39 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Kaleb Johnson played 10 games for PIT and scored 8.8 PPR points, 0.9 a game, finishing RB115.

He ran 28 times for 69 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 1 of 2 targets for 9 yards.

He was on the field for 6 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Aaron Jones Sr. over Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
• Start Ashton Jeanty over Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
• Start Bhayshul Tuten over Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
• Start David Montgomery over Kaleb Johnson.
• Start Kaleb Johnson over J.K. Dobbins.
• Start Kaleb Johnson over MarShawn Lloyd.