After a seventh consecutive defeat on Sunday night condemned them to the fringes of a postseason spot, the Washington Commanders’ biggest questions surround the quarterback position, where 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels has yet to be cleared for contact. Still, the running back position is also not fully settled, with Chris Rodriguez, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, and Jeremy McNichols all battling for playing time. In the last two games, it’s been Rodriguez who’s gotten the majority of the touches, but with 11 rushes for 41 yards and a score, he was out-played efficiency-wise by both Croskey-Merritt (four carries for 20 yards) and McNichols (six carries for 30 yards) in Washington’s overtime loss to the Denver Broncos.
Croskey-Merritt has been the best of the trio so far (118 carries, 518 yards, four touchdowns, and the 12th-highest success rate in the league), but most of his production came early in the season and he’s since lost playing time as his efficiency has dipped. Meanwhile, McNichols’ three highest carry totals of the season have come in the last three games, but the journeyman has never been a primary option at any point in his career. Across the last four weeks, Rodriguez has been the most efficient on the highest volume, and his rushing success rate is actually higher than Croskey-Merritt’s. He probably hasn’t done enough to lose his starting job, though by Pro Football Focus’ grades, he’s been the worst of the three because of his slow start to the season.
Still, it’s very much a running back by committee approach. Besides Croskey-Merritt in Weeks 6 and 8, no Commanders running back has even appeared on the field for a majority of the team’s snaps in any game, and Marcus Mariota has dropped back to pass a lot, including 50 times in Washington’s loss against the Broncos. A pass-heavy approach — which is necessitated in part by the fact that the Commanders have had the eighth-best pass blocking grades and merely the 18th-best run blocking grades — could benefit Croskey-Merritt and McNichols more than Rodriguez, who has just four career receptions to his name. Rodriguez is still the go-to option in the red zone, but a 35.5% red zone rushing share still amounts to just 31st in the league.
I wouldn’t advise starting any Washington running back against any opponent besides the Cincinnati Bengals or New York Giants, and this Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings is no exception. Though the Vikings have been slightly worse than they were last season, when they allowed the ninth-fewest FPTS per game to opposing running backs en route to narrowly losing the NFC North title, they’ve still allowed the 14th-fewest so far in 2025. To be fair, almost all of the damage has come on the ground — Minnesota has conceded the eighth-most rushing yards, as well as the 10th-most touchdowns — but it hasn’t come efficiently, and its blitz-heavy scheme could bottle up Rodriguez, who likes to run up the middle.
