Commanders RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt Soars Up Fantasy Football Draft Boards

The fantasy football community has a way of generating hype for a potential future star at the running back position a bit prematurely.

This year, Washington Commanders RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt has been the player who has hype train has built up an unstoppable amount of momentum from the start of training camp to the end of August.

The trade of Brian Robinson Jr. to the San Francisco 49ers last week has helped make the man they call ‘Bill’ a polarizing player entering the 2025 NFL season.

Commanders RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt Soars Up Fantasy Football Draft Boards

The fantasy football community tends to have a great fear of missing out when it comes to breakout players. Specifically at the running back position.

Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report acknowledged that it is almost impossible to write a fantasy football column without including the name of Crosky-Merritt entering draft season.

“Like there was any chance that we were getting through a column about fantasy draft risers without mentioning Jacory Croskey-Merritt of the Washington Commanders,” Davenport wrote. “Croskey-Merritt has been something of a darling of many in the fantasy community for some time now. But once news broke that Washington was shopping Brian Robinson Jr., Croskey-Merritt’s draft stock took off like a rocket. Now that Robinson has been traded to the San Francisco 49ers? BANGPOWZOOM!”

Bill may have only produced 70 yards and a touchdown over his 21 total touches this preseason, but his 27-yard touchdown run against the Cincinnati Bengals combined with the departure of Robinson to San Francisco and the coaching staff electing to rest Croskey-Merritt for the preseason finale while Chris Rodriguez Jr. took the field has taken a relative fantasy football sleeper entering training into a player who fantasy managers are willing to reach on come draft day.

Davenport even coined a new term to describe those fantasy managers who have bought into the hype by writing, “But the fantasy community has a raging case of Bill Fever. And at this point, it wouldn’t be even a little surprising to see him come off the board as early as Round 6 or so.”

What the Actual Chances Jacory Croskey-Merritt Becomes the Definitive Feature Running Back For Washington in 2025?

The departure of Brian Robinson Jr. has cleared the way for a player to emerge as a leading ball carrier in this Washington offense, but Croskey-Merritt won’t be the only player vying for Robinson’s vacated opportunities in this Commanders’ backfield in 2025.

Davenport added, “The hype with Croskey-Merritt may be a tad out of hand—veteran Austin Ekeler will handle a chunk of the passing-down work in Washington, and Chris Rodriguez could see some early-down action. Croskey-Merritt is more likely to lead a committee than be a three-down workhorse.”

Croskey-Merritt passes the eye test in many ways. His acceleration, contact balance, and lateral agility all jump off of the tape. If the additions of Laremy Tunsil and Josh Conerely Jr. vastly improve an offensive line unit that finished as a top five rushing offense last season could be a goldmine for a leading back in this offense.

Croskey-Merritt will likely split a significant amount of the work early in the season with Ekeler and Rodriguez, but if the rookie proves to be the most efficient and explosive back in the offense — then don’t be surprised if his role expands as the season progresses and Bill lives up to the hype over the back half of the fantasy football season.