What RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt brings to the Washington Commanders

Breaking down what the Commanders are getting from their 7th round pick

With their final selection in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Washington Commanders selected running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt out of Arizona. Croskey-Merritt had an interesting college journey, working his way up the ladder starting at Alabama State before transferring to New Mexico in 2023. In 2024, he transferred to Arizona, but was only allowed to play one game due to the NCAA ruling him ineligible.

The story goes that Croskey-Merritt red-shirted and gave his number to someone else, but the NCAA had that number registered to him and therefore said he hadn’t red-shirted and was ineligible to play. So with only one game played in 2024, it wasn’t as easy to get all-22 film of him, but I’ve managed to watch four games from his 2023 season at New Mexico, as well as his one game at Arizona last year. On top of that, I was able to watch some of his performance at the East-West Shrine Bowl all star game at the end of the season, where he was voted MVP after rushing for 97 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries.

So what are the Commanders getting in Croskey-Merritt? Is he just a late round flyer or is he someone with a legit chance of contributing in his rookie year? Let’s take a closer look.

The first thing that stands out with Croskey-Merritt when watching him is his quickness and cutting ability. He doesn’t have elite speed, but he has a great burst and quickness that helps him accelerate to his top speed quicker than others. He combines that burst with a sharp cutting ability to make elusive jump cuts that make defenders miss as he accelerates quickly after the cut.

This play comes from his game at Arizona last season. Arizona runs a counter scheme with the right guard pulling to kick out the edge defender and the tight end following him to wrap around for the linebacker. As it plays out, the defensive end crashes inside while the linebacker loops around to the edge, so the pulling guard and tight end have to adjust their blocks. The guard adjusts and pins the edge defender inside while the tight end engages with the linebacker looping to replace the edge.

Croskey-Merritt shows good patience, following his blocks at a nice tempo to allow them to set up. He reads the guard pinning the defensive end inside, but continues his path to the edge to help set up the block for the tight end. With the linebacker working outside, Croskey-Merritt continues his path outside to help take the linebacker further outside, making it easy for the tight end to kick him out.

Croskey-Merritt then makes a very sharp cut inside, working between the blocks of his pulling guard and tight end and showing his burst to suddenly accelerate through the hole. The cut and acceleration is so quick, the safety working down from deep is beat without being able to even touch Croskey-Merritt, who picks up about 10 yards on the play before being brought down from the other defenders.

That sharp cutting ability combined with his burst and acceleration stood out at the Shrine Bowl too.

This time, the offense looks to work downhill with the right guard and center combining to double team the nose tackle up to the linebacker. The right tackle works up to the other linebacker while the tight end pulls and blocks the defensive end. Croskey-Merritt takes the snap inside initially, looking to run behind the double team from the right guard and center. But the defensive end on the outside crashes down the line before the pulling tight end can get to him, so Croskey-Merritt is forced to make an early cut to bounce his run outside.

As he makes that cut, Croskey-Merritt finds that the linebacker that was meant to be picked up by the double team read the play well and worked around the double team quickly to fill the lane. He also finds that the right tackle is struggling to block the other linebacker, leaving two linebackers unblocked in the area that he’s looking to bounce his run. So after a few steps outside towards the edge, Croskey-Merritt makes another incredibly sharp cut back inside to get vertical. He changes direction so fluidly without losing momentum that the unblocked linebackers are left in his dust.

Croskey-Merritt bursts through the line of scrimmage untouched but is met by the safety trying to work across from the back side. He feels that safety coming and spins out of the tackle, picking up even more yards before finally being brought down by the deep safety. It was a broken play that shouldn’t really have had much success, but Croskey-Merritt made two sharp cuts, first to bounce the run and then to slash back inside and get vertical, before spinning out of a tackle to fully maximize the yards on offer.

That is the type of runner Croskey-Merritt is, at least in my eyes. I think there’s a bit of a misconception about him among the Commanders fan base. I think lots of fans believe him to be a power back that runs over defenders and powers his way to extra yards, but he’s not really that. He’s much more elusive and while he doesn’t have great top end speed, he has fantastic burst and acceleration as well as a great jump cut to find his way through the smallest holes and accelerate out of them.