Start Pat Freiermuth or Tyler Higbee? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Pat Freiermuth over Tyler Higbee in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Pat Freiermuth at 7.8 points and Tyler Higbee at 7.2, a gap of 0.6. 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 7.8 fantasy points for Pat Freiermuth, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market has Pat Freiermuth at 27.5 receiving yards and 3.5 receptions, with a 24% chance to score a touchdown (15, 12 and 16 market sources).

Player markets imply 7.2 fantasy points for Tyler Higbee, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market has Tyler Higbee at 25.5 receiving yards and 2.5 receptions, with a 29% chance to score a touchdown (15, 15 and 16 market sources).

That puts Pat Freiermuth 0.6 points ahead of Tyler Higbee on the market projections.

Injury status

Pat Freiermuth is not on the injury report.

Tyler Higbee is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Pat Freiermuth played 69 percent of PIT snaps, drew 13 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

Pat Freiermuth, Week 1 against ATL: 49 of 67 snaps, 5 targets and 5 catches for 46 yards, 1 touchdown.

Pat Freiermuth, Week 2 against NE: 46 of 70 snaps, 1 carry for 2 yards, 5 targets and 4 catches for 32 yards.

Pat Freiermuth, Week 3 against CIN: 37 of 62 snaps, 1 carry for 1 yards, 4 targets and 2 catches for 30 yards.

Pat Freiermuth, Week 4 against CLE: 54 of 72 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 17 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 4, Tyler Higbee played 49 percent of LAR snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 10 percent of the air yards and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

Tyler Higbee, Week 1 against SF: 12 of 61 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 12 yards.

Tyler Higbee, Week 2 against NYG: 16 of 62 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Tyler Higbee, Week 3 against DEN: 61 of 86 snaps, 11 targets and 8 catches for 62 yards, 1 touchdown.

Tyler Higbee, Week 4 against PHI: 55 of 84 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 67 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Pat Freiermuth played 17 games for PIT and scored 113.6 PPR points, 6.7 a game, finishing TE25.

He caught 41 of 54 targets for 486 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 9 red zone targets and 231 air yards.

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

In 2025, Tyler Higbee played 10 games for LAR and scored 71.1 PPR points, 7.1 a game, finishing TE40.

He caught 25 of 36 targets for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets and 141 air yards.

He was on the field for 54 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Pat Freiermuth over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Pat Freiermuth.
• Start Pat Freiermuth over Cade Otton.
• Start Tyler Higbee over AJ Barner.
• Start Cade Otton over Tyler Higbee.
• Start Tyler Higbee over Chig Okonkwo.