Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt or Will Shipley? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt over Will Shipley in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Jacory Croskey-Merritt at 10.2 points and Will Shipley at 9.1, a gap of 1.0. 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 10.2 fantasy points for Jacory Croskey-Merritt, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Jacory Croskey-Merritt at 53.5 rushing yards, 5.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 37% chance to score a touchdown (17, 11, 13 and 16 market sources).

Player markets imply 9.1 fantasy points for Will Shipley, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Will Shipley at 33.5 rushing yards, 14.5 receiving yards and 2.5 receptions, with a 25% chance to score a touchdown (16, 16, 16 and 17 market sources).

That puts Jacory Croskey-Merritt 1.0 points ahead of Will Shipley on the market projections.

Injury status

Jacory Croskey-Merritt is not on the injury report.

Will Shipley is listed as out with a foot injury.

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, Will Shipley played 38 percent of PHI snaps, took 15 percent of the carries, drew 6 percent of the targets and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.

Will Shipley, Week 1 against WAS: 10 of 55 snaps, 2 carries for 4 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 8 yards.

Will Shipley, Week 2 against TEN: 39 of 76 snaps, 7 carries for 24 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 5 yards.

Will Shipley, Week 3 against CHI: 13 of 50 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Will Shipley, Week 4 against LAR: 29 of 61 snaps, 6 carries for 23 yards, 1 target 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, Will Shipley played 15 games for PHI and scored 17.5 PPR points, 1.2 a game, finishing RB96.

He ran 14 times for 49 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 9 of 12 targets for 56 yards.

He was on the field for 10 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

How Week 5 went

Jacory Croskey-Merritt scored 14.2 PPR points and Will Shipley scored 8.3.

The call was right: Jacory Croskey-Merritt outscored Will Shipley by 5.9.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt finished 4.0 points above the 10.2 the market projected.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Week 5 against NYG: 11 carries for 82 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1 touchdown, 14.2 PPR points.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt finished as the week's RB11 in PPR scoring.

Will Shipley finished 0.8 points below the 9.1 the market projected.

Will Shipley, Week 5 against JAX: 5 carries for 6 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 7 yards, 1 touchdown, 8.3 PPR points.

Will Shipley finished as the week's RB20 in PPR scoring.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Aaron Jones Sr. over Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
• Start Alvin Kamara over Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
• Start Ashton Jeanty over Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
• Start Alvin Kamara over Will Shipley.
• Start Will Shipley over Blake Corum.
• Start Will Shipley over Brian Robinson.