Start Josh Downs or Jaylen Waddle? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Josh Downs over Jaylen Waddle in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Josh Downs at 12.4 points and Jaylen Waddle at 12.3, a gap of 0.2. 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 12.4 fantasy points for Josh Downs, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Josh Downs at 57.5 receiving yards and 4.5 receptions, with a 30% chance to score a touchdown (15, 12 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 12.3 fantasy points for Jaylen Waddle, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Jaylen Waddle at 53.5 receiving yards and 4.5 receptions, with a 33% chance to score a touchdown (14, 13 and 14 market sources).

That puts Josh Downs 0.2 points ahead of Jaylen Waddle on the market projections.

Week 5 matchups

Jaylen Waddle and DEN visit LAC on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAC allowed 33.4 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 4 games, the 15th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 148 yards and a touchdown a game against LAC.

Injury status

Josh Downs is not on the injury report.

Jaylen Waddle is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Josh Downs played 79 percent of IND snaps, drew 23 percent of the targets, earned 36 percent of the air yards and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

Josh Downs, Week 1 against BAL: 48 of 54 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 37 yards.

Josh Downs, Week 2 against KC: 54 of 65 snaps, 9 targets and 7 catches for 72 yards.

Josh Downs, Week 3 against HOU: 48 of 71 snaps, 11 targets and 5 catches for 77 yards.

Josh Downs, Week 4 against WAS: 51 of 66 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 16 yards.

Through Week 4, Jaylen Waddle played 69 percent of DEN snaps, drew 21 percent of the targets, earned 38 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 1 against KC: 38 of 51 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 2 against JAX: 38 of 62 snaps, 10 targets and 8 catches for 138 yards.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 3 against LAR: 49 of 67 snaps, 1 carry for 14 yards, 7 targets and 2 catches for 10 yards.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 4 against SF: 45 of 65 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 35 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Josh Downs played 16 games for IND and scored 136.4 PPR points, 8.5 a game, finishing WR44.

He caught 58 of 88 targets for 566 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets and 422 air yards.

He was on the field for 58 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Jaylen Waddle played 16 games for MIA and scored 194.1 PPR points, 12.1 a game, finishing WR24.

He caught 64 of 100 targets for 910 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets and 682 air yards.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Christian Watson over Josh Downs.
• Start Davante Adams over Josh Downs.
• Start DK Metcalf over Josh Downs.
• Start Carnell Tate over Jaylen Waddle.
• Start Chris Olave over Jaylen Waddle.
• Start Christian Watson over Jaylen Waddle.