Week 14 could not have been more of a disaster for the Washington Commanders. They lost their eighth straight game to fall to 3-10, failed to score a single point and allowed 31 to the equally disappointing Minnesota Vikings, tight end Zach Ertz sustained a possibly career-ending torn ACL, and starting quarterback Jayden Daniels left with an injury for the fourth time and will not play this week. I’m not sure if “lost season” has ever encapsulated a team more than it has the 2025 Commanders. It’s possible that, if given the option, most Washington fans would just prefer their team end its season early and forfeit its remaining games.
Of course, the games still have to be played, and somebody will pick up yards and (maybe) score touchdowns for the Commanders. Wideouts Deebo Samuel and Terry McLaurin are probably likely to gain usage with Ertz, the team’s second-leading receiver, now done for the season. With its passing corps depleted, Washington also might lean more into the run, handing it off to either Chris Rodriguez Jr. or Jacory Croskey-Merritt or having Marcus Mariota keep it himself (or Daniels, if and when he returns). In the loss to Minnesota, the Commanders very much embodied a committee approach, with Rodriguez taking 10 carries, Croskey-Merritt taking seven, and the quarterbacks combining for six. In the prior week’s defeat against the Denver Broncos, Rodriguez took 11 carries, Mariota took 10, and Jeremy McNichols and Croskey-Merritt combined for 10. Mariota also threw the ball 50 times.
Rodriguez should probably be the top option for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants, given that he’s received more carries than Croskey-Merritt in each of the past three weeks and that the rookie’s efficiency has fallen off after a hot start to the season. In the first five games of Croskey-Merritt’s career, he averaged 6.6 yards per carry and amassed 283 yards, but across Washington’s eight-game losing streak, that efficiency has dropped to 3.3 yards per carry. In that same span, Rodriguez has averaged 4.6 yards per carry, and on a season-long basis, he ranks two spots ahead of Croskey-Merritt on the league leaderboard despite the latter’s scorching start. Mariota might even run the ball more than Croskey-Merritt, given that 19 of his 39 runs this season have been designed runs and he’s gained almost as many yards off of designed runs as he has off of scrambles, in sharp contrast to Daniels, a scrambling wizard.
Either way, the fact that the Commanders have three reliable ground options — plus Deebo Samuel, who’s had a rushing attempt in eight of his 12 games — and Mariota’s greater aggression with the ball relative to Daniels should limit both backs’ fantasy ceiling, even against an opponent as friendly as the Giants. New York has allowed the second-most FPTS per game to opposing running backs on the most yards per carry and the fewest expected points added, but Washington has previously faced the nearly-as-atrocious Dallas Cowboys (fourth-most) and in that game, its top fantasy running back was McNichols, who amassed a whopping 6.5 FPTS. In fact, across the Commanders’ losing streak, only thrice has any Washington running back reached double-digit FPTS, with two instances by Rodriguez and one by McNichols.
Start or Sit: Sit Chris Rodriguez Jr., Sit Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
