"He's got it in the back of his mind that if he fumbles one more time, they're probably going to bench him. And when you think about his story, being a seventh-round pick, not knowing if he was going to get the chance to play at the NFL level, right now, I think he's just trying to play without making a mistake, and it's impacted the way he runs the football."
"Croskey-Merritt was one of the best feel-good stories anywhere in the league this summer. The No. 245 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft blazed a trail, seizing every opportunity to rise from obscurity and into an essential rotational role. When veteran Austin Ekeler tore his Achilles tendon in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers, the first-year pro surged into the No. 1 role."
Jacory Croskey-Merritt rose from a seventh-round pick to an essential rotational running back for the Washington Commanders after standout summer performances and an early-season opportunity. The Week 2 injury to veteran Austin Ekeler thrust Croskey-Merritt into the lead role, where he initially produced sensational plays. Recent lapses in ball security and multiple fumbles have coincided with a decline in production and involvement over the last two weeks. A team pundit suggested that fear of being benched after further turnovers is causing Croskey-Merritt to run more cautiously, which is affecting his natural rushing style.
Read at Riggo's Rag
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]