Just one week into the Jacory Croskey-Merritt experience, the most remarkable thing is that all the hype around the Washington Commanders running back may be true.
How many times have we seen a ballyhooed rookie begin his career with modest results? Croskey-Merritt might ultimately prove to be just as good as advertised, but early on, the typical message to fans is that maybe they need to slow their roll.
After seeing what Croskey-Merritt did against the New York Giants and their very solid run defense, maybe we can actually speed that roll up. He scored his first NFL touchdown. He secured 82 rushing yards on just 10 carries. Even excluding his late 42-yard scamper, he still averaged almost 4.5 yards per carry on his other runs.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt has Commanders' RB1 status in his sights
For his efforts, Croskey-Merritt graded out as Pro Football Focus’ second-best running back of Week 1, trailing only Breece Hall of the New York Jets. As a pure runner — excluding grades for receiving and blocking — the Commanders' rookie was the best in the league, by a very wide margin. His 83.9 rushing grade dwarfed Travis Etienne Jr.’s second-place 76.8.
It was just one game. Croskey-Merritt will not sustain an 8.2 rushing average throughout the year. But there is every reason to make him the Commanders' primary early-down back sooner rather than later.
Austin Ekeler remains a valuable weapon. He had several tough runs against the Giants. His first down conversion on 2nd-and-15 midway through the fourth quarter showed just how dangerous he is running screens and circle routes out of the backfield.
Ekeler accounted for 57 yards on his nine touches. That came in at a very respectable 6.3 yards on average.
But Ekeler is 30 years old, weighs 200 pounds, and has more than 1,500 touches over his nine-year NFL career. He has missed eight games in the past two seasons due to injury.
It makes far more sense to preserve Ekeler for passing downs. You want him fresh in the red zone, where he has always shown a good nose for finding paydirt.
Croskey-Merritt is a little bigger and a lot younger. At this point in their respective careers, he figures to stand up to the pounding that a lead back will take.
There is still plenty of development to come. Croskey-Merritt will need to improve his pass blocking and receiving if he wants to turn into an every-down back. Fortunately, he has two quality, all-around veterans in Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols to learn those facets from.
As soon as Adam Peters decided to part company with workhorse Brian Robinson Jr., a debate began over who might pick up the early down slack. Many assumed that it would be Chris Rodriguez Jr., the hard-running, third-year man from Kentucky. But he was inactive against the Giants.
Rodriguez will probably find his way onto the field at some point this season. But for now, the Commanders seem content to roll with Ekeler, McNicholls, and Croskey-Merritt.
If that is indeed the case, then it will be very hard to keep Croskey-Merritt off the field after what he showed in Week 1.
The Commanders are still likely to employ a committee approach against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football. But right now, it looks like the seventh-round draft pick is going to assume a leadership role if the same trend continues.