Start James Cook III or Quinshon Judkins? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start James Cook III over Quinshon Judkins in Week 5.

Market-based projections have James Cook III at 16.5 points and Quinshon Judkins at 13.7, a gap of 2.8. Both numbers are 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 16.5 fantasy points for James Cook III, with 80 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has James Cook III at 75.5 rushing yards, with a 52% chance to score a touchdown (13 and 15 market sources).

Player markets imply 13.7 fantasy points for Quinshon Judkins, with 90 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Quinshon Judkins at 59.5 rushing yards, with a 41% chance to score a touchdown (14 and 15 market sources).

That puts James Cook III 2.8 points ahead of Quinshon Judkins on the market projections.

Week 5 matchups

James Cook III and BUF visit LAR on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

LAR allowed 15.5 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 4 games, the 3rd fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 82 yards and no touchdowns a game against LAR and caught passes for 26 more yards.

Injury status

James Cook III is not on the injury report.

Quinshon Judkins is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Quinshon Judkins played 62 percent of CLE snaps, took 61 percent of the carries, drew 14 percent of the targets and had 44 percent of the red zone chances.

Quinshon Judkins, Week 1 against JAX: 33 of 51 snaps, 12 carries for 33 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 17 yards.

Quinshon Judkins, Week 2 against TB: 39 of 58 snaps, 12 carries for 21 yards, 5 targets and 5 catches for 27 yards.

Quinshon Judkins, Week 3 against CAR: 36 of 70 snaps, 18 carries for 70 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 9 yards.

Quinshon Judkins, Week 4 against PIT: 42 of 64 snaps, 17 carries for 53 yards, 7 targets and 6 catches for 43 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, James Cook III played 17 games for BUF and scored 302.2 PPR points, 17.8 a game, finishing RB6.

He ran 309 times for 1621 yards and 12 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 40 targets for 291 yards.

He was on the field for 60 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

James Cook III, Week 18 of 2025 against NYJ: 2 carries for 15 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1.5 PPR points.

James Cook III, Week 17 of 2025 against PHI: 39 of 76 snaps, 20 carries for 74 yards, 4 targets and 1 catch for 3 yards, 8.7 PPR points.

James Cook III, Week 16 of 2025 against CLE: 28 of 50 snaps, 16 carries for 117 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 17 yards, 2 touchdowns, 26.4 PPR points.

In 2025, Quinshon Judkins played 15 games for CLE and scored 169.8 PPR points, 11.3 a game, finishing RB26.

He ran 230 times for 827 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 26 of 36 targets for 171 yards.

He was on the field for 50 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start James Cook III over Aaron Jones Sr..
• Start James Cook III over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start James Cook III over Bhayshul Tuten.
• Start Quinshon Judkins over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start Quinshon Judkins over Bhayshul Tuten.
• Start Braelon Allen over Quinshon Judkins.