Start Kaleb Johnson or Tony Pollard? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Kaleb Johnson over Tony Pollard in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Kaleb Johnson at 9.7 points and Tony Pollard at 9.4, a gap of 0.3. 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 9.4 fantasy points for Tony Pollard, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Tony Pollard at 49.5 rushing yards, 8.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 28% chance to score a touchdown (12, 8, 8 and 12 market sources).

That puts Kaleb Johnson 0.3 points ahead of Tony Pollard on the market projections.

Injury status

Kaleb Johnson is not on the injury report.

Tony Pollard is listed as questionable with a foot injury.

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, Tony Pollard played 53 percent of TEN snaps, took 60 percent of the carries, drew 10 percent of the targets and had 43 percent of the red zone chances.

Tony Pollard, Week 1 against NYJ: 26 of 50 snaps, 7 carries for 35 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for -1 yards.

Tony Pollard, Week 2 against PHI: 29 of 53 snaps, 14 carries for 64 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 1 yards.

Tony Pollard, Week 3 against NYG: 32 of 60 snaps, 17 carries for 74 yards, 4 targets and 4 catches for 22 yards.

Tony Pollard, Week 4 against BAL: 34 of 64 snaps, 16 carries for 48 yards, 4 targets and 2 catches for 2 yards, 1 touchdown.

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.

In 2025, Tony Pollard played 17 games for TEN and scored 185.8 PPR points, 10.9 a game, finishing RB23.

He ran 242 times for 1082 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 41 targets for 206 yards.

He was on the field for 62 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 Bhayshul Tuten over Tony Pollard.
• Start Tony Pollard over Blake Corum.
• Start Tony Pollard over Brian Robinson.