Commanders rookie is already shaking up the depth chart before Week 2
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.
Broderick Jones Under Fire as Big Ben Questions Steelers’ Front Five
The Pittsburgh Steelers got off to a 1-0 start to the 2025 season after picking up a 34-32 Week 1 road win over the New York Jets Sunday. It wasn’t all perfect, however, and former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger came away concerned about the offensive line, more specifically, left tackle Broderick Jones.
Aaron Rodgers, making his team debut under center, was sacked four times. Three of those sacks were allowed by Jones, according to Pro Football Focus. From what Roethlisberger observed, Jones looked like a “turnstile” against the Jets.
“What’s going on, on the O-line has to be like pulling hair out because you’re running for 53 yards, and you’ve given up four sacks,” Roethlisberger said on his Footbahlin podcast. “And with all due respect, Broderick Jones looks like a turnstile. I mean, it was bad. I don’t know how many of the sacks were on him, but it felt like there was a lot of pressure coming from that left side.”
Jones was ineffective as a pass blocker, and a run blocker. PFF gave him an overall grade of 54.5, 50th among 65 offensive tackles in Week 1. Beyond the sacks allowed, Pittsburgh’s offensive line struggled to create holes for the ground game. The Steelers rushed for just 53 yards on 20 carries.
The Steelers need Broderick Jones to be better
This is a big year for Jones. He was the Steelers’ 2023 first-round selection out of Georgia and to this point, he hasn’t proven to be a viable starting option. This year, he’s back at his natural left tackle spot after starting 16 games at right tackle last season.
The spotlight is on Jones to perform and help keep the 41-year-old Rodgers upright — he did not do that Sunday. Head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged that Jones needs to play better.
“It could be better, but certainly all of our performances could be better,” Tomlin said. “As I mentioned, our quarterback got hit too much, and he was a component of that.”
Tomlin isn’t worried about Jones losing confidence: “I do not… because it’s football. You don’t get to the National Football League by being fragile emotionally. There’s a lot of confident guys that I work with. You win some battles, you lose some battles. You come back fighting. That’s just the nature of the men that play this game at this level.”
