Start Rashod Bateman or Troy Franklin? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Rashod Bateman over Troy Franklin in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Rashod Bateman at 4.6 points and Troy Franklin at 4.2, a gap of 0.4. 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 4.6 fantasy points for Rashod Bateman, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Rashod Bateman at 19.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 17% chance to score a touchdown (11, 10 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 4.2 fantasy points for Troy Franklin, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market has Troy Franklin at 18.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 12% chance to score a touchdown (15, 13 and 13 market sources).

That puts Rashod Bateman 0.4 points ahead of Troy Franklin on the market projections.

Injury status

Rashod Bateman is listed as questionable with a shoulder injury.

Troy Franklin is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Rashod Bateman played 76 percent of BAL snaps, drew 15 percent of the targets, earned 21 percent of the air yards and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Rashod Bateman, Week 1 against IND: 53 of 68 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Rashod Bateman, Week 2 against NO: 54 of 58 snaps, 9 targets and 7 catches for 88 yards, 1 touchdown.

Rashod Bateman, Week 3 against DAL: 56 of 64 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 37 yards.

Rashod Bateman, Week 4 against TEN: 30 of 64 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 46 yards.

Through Week 4, Troy Franklin played 30 percent of DEN snaps, drew 3 percent of the targets, earned 10 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Troy Franklin, Week 1 against KC: 17 of 51 snaps, 1 carry for 5 yards, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Troy Franklin, Week 2 against JAX: 13 of 62 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 27 yards.

Troy Franklin, Week 3 against LAR: 12 of 67 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 21 yards.

Troy Franklin, Week 4 against SF: 32 of 65 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Rashod Bateman played 13 games for BAL and scored 55.4 PPR points, 4.3 a game, finishing WR102.

He caught 19 of 38 targets for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets and 185 air yards.

He was on the field for 69 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Troy Franklin played 17 games for DEN and scored 177.1 PPR points, 10.4 a game, finishing WR31.

He caught 65 of 104 targets for 709 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 18 red zone targets and 427 air yards.

He was on the field for 60 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Brian Thomas Jr. over Rashod Bateman.
• Start Cooper Kupp over Rashod Bateman.
• Start Rashod Bateman over Darnell Mooney.
• Start Troy Franklin over Calvin Ridley.
• Start Darnell Mooney over Troy Franklin.
• Start Troy Franklin over Elic Ayomanor.