Start Luther Burden III or Malik Washington? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Luther Burden III over Malik Washington in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Luther Burden III at 10.3 points and Malik Washington at 9.5, a gap of 0.7. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. 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. Market coverage on Luther Burden III 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 10.3 fantasy points for Luther Burden III, with 70 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market gives Luther Burden III a 31% chance to score a touchdown (12 market sources).

Player markets imply 9.5 fantasy points for Malik Washington, with 70 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

That puts Luther Burden III 0.7 points ahead of Malik Washington on the market projections.

Injury status

Luther Burden III is not on the injury report.

Malik Washington is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Malik Washington played 86 percent of MIA snaps, drew 27 percent of the targets, earned 30 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

Malik Washington, Week 1 against LV: 55 of 56 snaps, 8 targets and 3 catches for 53 yards.

Malik Washington, Week 2 against SF: 43 of 59 snaps, 1 carry for 4 yards, 5 targets and 4 catches for 43 yards.

Malik Washington, Week 3 against KC: 63 of 73 snaps, 2 carries for 5 yards, 10 targets and 5 catches for 56 yards.

Malik Washington, Week 4 against MIN: 34 of 39 snaps, 2 carries for 3 yards, 5 targets and 5 catches for 67 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Malik Washington played 17 games for MIA and scored 116.7 PPR points, 6.9 a game, finishing WR54.

He caught 46 of 65 targets for 317 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets and 64 air yards.

He was on the field for 56 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Luther Burden III over Carnell Tate.
• Start Christian Watson over Luther Burden III.
• Start Luther Burden III over Denzel Boston.
• Start Malik Washington over Adonai Mitchell.
• Start Carnell Tate over Malik Washington.
• Start Christian Watson over Malik Washington.