Jacory Croskey-Merritt Start or Sit Advice for Week 3
Less than two years later, the Washington Commanders’ run to the NFC Championship Game in 2024 feels like a distant memory. Washington lost 10 its final 12 games in 2025 and is 0-2 to start its 2026 season. It’ll be without quarterback Jayden Daniels for at least the next couple of weeks after he dislocated his elbow for the second time in as many seasons.
In the meantime, it’ll be up to veteran backup quarterback Marcus Mariota and breakout star running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt to keep the team afloat. Last season, Croskey-Merritt entered the season as an unknown seventh-round rookie, but he took 175 carries for 805 yards and eight scores as the preferred option in a platoon with Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Jeremy McNichols. So far this season, Croskey-Merritt has managed more of the same, with 28 rushes, 106 yards, and one score.
In the seven games that Croskey-Merritt played alongside Daniels, he actually averaged more carries (11.0 per game) than he did in his 10 games alongside Mariota or Josh Johnson (9.8). However, given that Mariota averaged 3.8 fewer rushing attempts per game than Daniels last season, I’d expect the Commanders to hand it off more instead of simply tasking Mariota with all of Daniels’ designed run plays. I don’t trust Mariota as a passer; he was worse than Daniels by most metrics last season and sported the league’s third-highest bad throw percentage the last time he was a full-time starter in 2022.
However, even if he does receive a full work load, Croskey-Merritt just might not be an NFL-quality RB1. He ranks fifth-to-last among 57 qualified running backs by Pro Football Focus’ grades so far this season after finishing last season as the 37th-ranked back. By the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, he ranks fourth-to-last in rush yards over expectation per attempt at negative-0.9. Opponents aren’t afraid of him, either; he’s faced stacked boxes at the lowest rate. His inability to factor in the passing game and his lackluster pass-blocking could also be problematic, since his mere presence on the field tells opponents that it must be a run play. Croskey-Merritt has received twice as many carries as Rachaad White in the first two games, but after Daniels’ injury, each had only four touches.
Croskey-Merritt couldn’t possibly ask for a harder Week 3 matchup, as Washington will travel to face the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. This season, the Seahawks’ run defense has picked up right where it left off, allowing the eighth-fewest rushing yards on the eighth-fewest yards per attempt and conceding the seventh-fewest FPTS per game to running backs overall. Furthermore, Seattle could get even better, as Defensive Rookie of the Year runner-up Nick Emmanwori, limited to just nine snaps so far this season because of offseason ankle surgery, was a full participant in practice. The Seahawks’ offense is also good at chewing up clock as is, and they’ll likely add Sam Darnold back in the mix this week.
