Drafting earlier in the preseason is sometimes a good thing. A month or even a week ago you could have got Jacory Croskey-Merritt (pictured) with a very late pick. Not anymore.
Washington's seventh-round pick in April has been on the radar of dynasty leaguers for a while now. He slipped to the final round due to a deep class of running backs and the fact he only played one game last year (due to a weird eligibility issue involving a jersey number swap his freshman year, and uncertainty whether he'd played 4 games or 8 games). For New Mexico the previous year, he ran for 1,190 yards and 6.3 yards per attempt, while scoring 18 touchdowns.
Yesterday came the news that Washington would hold starting running back Brian Robinson out of the Monday exhibition game. The team is reportedly shopping him. Part of it is faith in the rookie, and part of it is Chris Rodriguez, who actually started last night's exhibition game. Ultimately both backs tore up Cincinnati's leaky defense: 6 for 62 with a 40-yard run -- untouched -- on his first carry for Rodriguez, and 11 for 46 with a 27-yard touchdown run -- also totally untouched until he was in the end zone -- for Croskey-Merritt.
(In the first exhibition, at New England, Robinson and other starters were inactive, and Croskey-Merritt started. Both he and Rodriguez played in the first half, neither did anything notable -- 7 for 24 for the rookie, 6 for 22 for the holdover.)
We've been fans of Rodriguez for a while. A sixth-round pick two years ago, he's never gotten much of a chance in Washington, but he can play. He's averaged 4.9 yards per attempt with his limited chances. He's received at least 5 carries in a game eight times, and put up good numbers in almost all of them.
| RODRIGUEZ WITH 5-PLUS ATTEMPTS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Att | Run | Avg | No | Rec | TD |
| 2024 | Ten. | 13 | 94 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | at NYG | 11 | 52 | 4.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | at LAR | 10 | 35 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | NYJ | 10 | 58 | 5.8 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| 2023 | at NYG | 7 | 31 | 4.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Mia. | 7 | 29 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | NYG | 6 | 43 | 7.2 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 2024 | Atl. | 5 | 16 | 3.2 | 1 | 12 | 1 |
So yes, the general storyline is that Croskey-Merritt's strong preseason is behind the Robinson trade talks, but Rodriguez might be just as much of a factor here.
Neither running back should be a factor as a pass catcher, but Washington has Austin Ekeler for that, and Jeremy McNichols, and even Deebo Samuel (who ran a jet sweep to open last night's game).
As for Robinson, well, I don't think he's going to bring much in a trade. He's a former third-round pick who's started 37 games the last three seasons, so there's some name recognition, but he's never been what you'd call dynamic. He's averaged 4.1 yards per attempt in those years. Among the 24 running backs who've averaged at least 10 starts the past three seasons, only four have been less efficient with their chances, and possible only one of those guys will be a starter this season. (Data from pro-football-reference.com, sorted by yards per attempt.)
| RBS STARTING 30-PLUS GAMES, 2022-2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | GS | Att | Yds | Y/A | TD |
| Christian McCaffrey | 36 | 566 | 2800 | 4.9 | 22 |
| Derrick Henry | 50 | 954 | 4626 | 4.8 | 41 |
| Saquon Barkley | 46 | 887 | 4279 | 4.8 | 29 |
| Aaron Jones | 45 | 610 | 2915 | 4.8 | 9 |
| Bijan Robinson | 33 | 518 | 2432 | 4.7 | 18 |
| James Conner | 42 | 627 | 2916 | 4.7 | 22 |
| Raheem Mostert | 30 | 475 | 2181 | 4.6 | 23 |
| Jonathan Taylor | 31 | 664 | 3033 | 4.6 | 22 |
| Breece Hall | 34 | 512 | 2333 | 4.6 | 14 |
| Isiah Pacheco | 30 | 458 | 2075 | 4.5 | 13 |
| D'Andre Swift | 40 | 581 | 2550 | 4.4 | 16 |
| Tony Pollard | 37 | 705 | 3091 | 4.4 | 20 |
| Josh Jacobs | 47 | 874 | 3787 | 4.3 | 33 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson | 33 | 573 | 2460 | 4.3 | 16 |
| David Montgomery | 44 | 605 | 2591 | 4.3 | 30 |
| Devin Singletary | 31 | 506 | 2154 | 4.3 | 13 |
| Travis Etienne | 44 | 637 | 2691 | 4.2 | 18 |
| Kenneth Walker III | 37 | 600 | 2528 | 4.2 | 24 |
| Austin Ekeler | 37 | 460 | 1910 | 4.2 | 22 |
| Brian Robinson | 37 | 570 | 2329 | 4.1 | 15 |
| Alvin Kamara | 39 | 631 | 2541 | 4.0 | 13 |
| Joe Mixon | 45 | 712 | 2864 | 4.0 | 27 |
| Najee Harris | 51 | 790 | 3112 | 3.9 | 21 |
| Rachaad White | 40 | 545 | 2084 | 3.8 | 10 |
I know Ian is a fan of Rodriguez. If and when Robinson is traded, I believe he may have him a little higher in the update on Thursday (but we’ll see). He started last night, so possible he'll be the Week 1 starter (or maybe it will be Ekeler, even if Rodriguez is the lead runner). As noted, Jacory started the previous exhibition. There's enough uncertainty as to which running back will be best this year that I'm not sure you can select either player with confidence you're getting the best one. The advantage with Rodriguez is he'll be the one cheaper in drafts, with most media members talking up the rookie.
But Croskey-Merritt is the new guy in town. Washington has had Rodriguez on the roster for two years without liking him enough to give him much of a shot. What's new on the roster that presumably prompted shipping off Robinson? The rookie.
I'll be interested in selecting Croskey-Merritt, while conceding that he may start going earlier than I'd want to take the plunge. Rodriguez should also be drafted, and will be available later.
Robinson, I don't see a place where he could go and I'd be excited to select him. The teams I've seen mentioned (Dallas, for example), I don't know that he's better than Javonte Williams. Sounds like we'll know soon enough.
--Andy Richardson