Start Sione Vaki or Seth McGowan? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Sione Vaki over Seth McGowan in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Sione Vaki at 2.5 points and Seth McGowan at 2.3, a gap of 0.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Sione Vaki'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 Sione Vaki 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 2.5 fantasy points for Sione Vaki, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Sione Vaki at 8.5 rushing yards, with a 12% chance to score a touchdown (15 and 16 market sources).

Player markets imply 2.3 fantasy points for Seth McGowan, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market gives Seth McGowan a 9% chance to score a touchdown (16 market sources).

That puts Sione Vaki 0.2 points ahead of Seth McGowan on the market projections.

Injury status

Sione Vaki is not on the injury report.

Seth McGowan is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Sione Vaki played 23 percent of DET snaps, took 9 percent of the carries, drew 3 percent of the targets and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

Sione Vaki, Week 1 against NO: 22 of 77 snaps, 2 carries for 7 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 2 against BUF: 11 of 65 snaps, 1 carry for 7 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 13 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 3 against NYJ: 20 of 65 snaps, 6 carries for 26 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 4 against CAR: 12 of 71 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 17 yards.

Through Week 4, Seth McGowan played 16 percent of IND snaps, took 11 percent of the carries, drew 2 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Seth McGowan, Week 1 against BAL: 6 of 54 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 0 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 2 against KC: 4 of 65 snaps, 2 carries for 0 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 3 against HOU: 11 of 71 snaps, 4 carries for 14 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 4 against WAS: 19 of 66 snaps, 6 carries for 31 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Sione Vaki played 11 games for DET and scored 0.4 PPR points, 0.0 a game, finishing RB143.

He ran 1 time for 4 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 0 of 0 targets for 0 yards.

He was on the field for 0 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Sione Vaki.
• Start Dameon Pierce over Sione Vaki.
• Start Sione Vaki over Demond Claiborne.
• Start Seth McGowan over Demond Claiborne.
• Start Isaiah Davis over Seth McGowan.
• Start Jaylen Wright over Seth McGowan.