Start Kaleb Johnson or MarShawn Lloyd? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Kaleb Johnson over MarShawn Lloyd in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Kaleb Johnson at 9.7 points and MarShawn Lloyd at 9.5, a gap of 0.2. 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. Market coverage on Kaleb Johnson is 70 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the market projects

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).

Player markets imply 9.5 fantasy points for MarShawn Lloyd, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has MarShawn Lloyd at 28.5 rushing yards, with a 39% chance to score a touchdown (3 and 15 market sources).

That puts Kaleb Johnson 0.2 points ahead of MarShawn Lloyd on the market projections.

Injury status

Kaleb Johnson is not on the injury report.

MarShawn Lloyd is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

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.

Through Week 4, MarShawn Lloyd played 37 percent of GB snaps, took 43 percent of the carries, drew 7 percent of the targets and had 27 percent of the red zone chances.

MarShawn Lloyd, Week 1 against MIN: 30 of 68 snaps, 13 carries for 37 yards, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

MarShawn Lloyd, Week 2 against NYJ: 16 of 59 snaps, 6 carries for 20 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 6 yards, 1 touchdown.

MarShawn Lloyd, Week 3 against ATL: 15 of 66 snaps, 4 carries for 11 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 7 yards.

MarShawn Lloyd, Week 4 against TB: 33 of 60 snaps, 7 carries for 13 yards, 5 targets and 5 catches for 36 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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 David Montgomery over Kaleb Johnson.
• Start Jacory Croskey-Merritt over Kaleb Johnson.
• Start Kaleb Johnson over J.K. Dobbins.
• Start MarShawn Lloyd over Brian Robinson.
• Start David Montgomery over MarShawn Lloyd.
• Start MarShawn Lloyd over J.K. Dobbins.