Start Tony Pollard or Will Shipley? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Tony Pollard over Will Shipley in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Tony Pollard at 9.4 points and Will Shipley at 8.8, a gap of 0.6. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Will Shipley'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.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 9.4 fantasy points for Tony Pollard, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Tony Pollard at 49.5 rushing yards, 8.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 28% chance to score a touchdown (12, 8, 8 and 12 market sources).

Player markets imply 8.8 fantasy points for Will Shipley, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market has Will Shipley at 35.5 rushing yards, with a 31% chance to score a touchdown (3 and 14 market sources).

That puts Tony Pollard 0.6 points ahead of Will Shipley on the market projections.

Injury status

Tony Pollard is listed as questionable with a foot injury.

Will Shipley is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Tony Pollard played 53 percent of TEN snaps, took 60 percent of the carries, drew 10 percent of the targets and had 43 percent of the red zone chances.

Tony Pollard, Week 1 against NYJ: 26 of 50 snaps, 7 carries for 35 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for -1 yards.

Tony Pollard, Week 2 against PHI: 29 of 53 snaps, 14 carries for 64 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 1 yards.

Tony Pollard, Week 3 against NYG: 32 of 60 snaps, 17 carries for 74 yards, 4 targets and 4 catches for 22 yards.

Tony Pollard, Week 4 against BAL: 34 of 64 snaps, 16 carries for 48 yards, 4 targets and 2 catches for 2 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 4, Will Shipley played 38 percent of PHI snaps, took 15 percent of the carries, drew 6 percent of the targets and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.

Will Shipley, Week 1 against WAS: 10 of 55 snaps, 2 carries for 4 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 8 yards.

Will Shipley, Week 2 against TEN: 39 of 76 snaps, 7 carries for 24 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 5 yards.

Will Shipley, Week 3 against CHI: 13 of 50 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Will Shipley, Week 4 against LAR: 29 of 61 snaps, 6 carries for 23 yards, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Tony Pollard played 17 games for TEN and scored 185.8 PPR points, 10.9 a game, finishing RB23.

He ran 242 times for 1082 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 41 targets for 206 yards.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Will Shipley played 15 games for PHI and scored 17.5 PPR points, 1.2 a game, finishing RB96.

He ran 14 times for 49 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 9 of 12 targets for 56 yards.

He was on the field for 10 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Bhayshul Tuten over Tony Pollard.
• Start Tony Pollard over Blake Corum.
• Start Tony Pollard over Brian Robinson.
• Start MarShawn Lloyd over Will Shipley.