Start Najee Harris or Kenny Gainwell? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Najee Harris over Kenny Gainwell in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Najee Harris at 5.4 points and Kenny Gainwell at 5.1, a gap of 0.3. 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 5.4 fantasy points for Najee Harris, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Najee Harris at 30.5 rushing yards, with a 20% chance to score a touchdown (14 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 5.1 fantasy points for Kenny Gainwell, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Kenny Gainwell at 12.5 rushing yards, 10.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 18% chance to score a touchdown (15, 15, 13 and 16 market sources).

That puts Najee Harris 0.3 points ahead of Kenny Gainwell on the market projections.

Injury status

Najee Harris is not on the injury report.

Kenny Gainwell is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Najee Harris played 18 percent of NYG snaps, took 27 percent of the carries, drew 0 percent of the targets and had 32 percent of the red zone chances.

Najee Harris, Week 2 against LAR: 8 of 58 snaps, 4 carries for 6 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Najee Harris, Week 3 against TEN: 14 of 64 snaps, 9 carries for 52 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Najee Harris, Week 4 against ARI: 12 of 67 snaps, 9 carries for 30 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 4, Kenny Gainwell played 42 percent of TB snaps, took 14 percent of the carries, drew 10 percent of the targets and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 1 against CIN: 26 of 57 snaps, 5 carries for 15 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 3 yards.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 2 against CLE: 23 of 65 snaps, 2 carries for 10 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 5 yards.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 3 against MIN: 32 of 69 snaps, 3 carries for -4 yards, 5 targets and 2 catches for 14 yards.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 4 against GB: 27 of 64 snaps, 3 carries for 5 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 22 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Najee Harris played 3 games for LAC and scored 11.6 PPR points, 3.9 a game, finishing RB105.

He ran 15 times for 61 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 3 of 3 targets for 25 yards.

He was on the field for 21 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Kenny Gainwell played 17 games for PIT and scored 222.3 PPR points, 13.1 a game, finishing RB16.

He ran 114 times for 537 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 73 of 85 targets for 486 yards.

He was on the field for 49 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Blake Corum over Najee Harris.
• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Najee Harris.
• Start George Holani over Najee Harris.
• Start Blake Corum over Kenny Gainwell.
• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Kenny Gainwell.
• Start George Holani over Kenny Gainwell.