Was I wrong about Jacory Croskey-Merritt?
June 8, 2026
by Steve Thomas
My main criticism of Jacory Croskey-Merritt on The Hog Sty Podcast throughout the 2025 season is that it appeared as though his stats were being boosted by a series of big runs. In other words, what I was seeing in his performance was a series of average to below average runs that were offset by a small number of very large gains. What I didn’t observe were consistent results throughout the year. I’ve always held to the standard that a legitimate, serious #1 running back needs to consistently gain 4.5 yards per carry, and I’ve been unclear whether Croskey-Merritt can meet that goal. As a result, I’ve been an advocate for the Redskins Washington Football Team Commanders Washington to continue to develop their running back group. They did that over the offseason with some free agent moves. Regardless, though, I thought that today I’d give Croskey-Merritt another chance and take a look at his performance last year in order to determine whether my observations during the season were correct.
As I always state for these kinds of columns, I don’t have a pre-determined outcome in mind while I write; the numbers will reveal what they reveal, so keep reading.
Croskey-Merritt, who is 5’11” and 208 pounds, spent a total of 5 years in college, including 4 seasons at Alabama St from 2019 – 2022, at which point he transferred to New Mexico for the 2023 season, then transferred again to Arizona for 2024. In total, he played in 39 games for all three teams, and had 558 carries for 2549 yards, for 4.6 yards per carry, and 31 touchdowns. His receiving contributions were fairly minimal, including a total of 40 receptions for 429 yards, for 10.7 yards per reception, and 2 touchdowns.
It is important to note that Croskey-Merritt only played one game for Arizona in 2024, which was the first game of the season. The NCAA prohibited him from finishing the season as a result of an eligibility dispute. The NCAA concluded that his 2019 freshman year at Alabama St. actually was not a redshirt year as it was originally characterized, thereby making him ineligible for the 2024 season with Arizona. As a result, he was unable to prove much in 2024, which almost certainly effected his draft status.
Croskey-Merritt did not participate in the NFL Combine but ran the 40 yard dash in 4.45 seconds at his pro day.
Overall, in 2025, Croskey-Merritt played in 17 games, including 7 starts, and had 175 carries for 805 yards, 4.6 yards per carry, and 8 touchdowns, plus 9 receptions in 13 targets for 68 yards receiving. His 4.6 yards per carry was ranked 18th in the NFL for running backs who averaged 6.25 or more carries per game. He played in all 17 games last season, and in those efforts, he achieved the following results:
- Averaged 4.5 yards per carry or more in 7 games
- Averaged less than 3.9 or fewer yards per carry in 9 games
- Gained more than 100 yards in 2 games
The following are some details from his 7 games in which he averaged 4.5 yards per carry or more:
- Week 1: 10 carries for 82 yards, 8.2 yards per carry. Had one carry for 42 yards; therefore averaged 4.4 yards per carry in his remaining 9 carries.
- Week 5: 14 carries for 111 yards, 7.9 yards per carry. Had one carry for 27 yards; therefore averaged 6.5 yards per carry in his remaining 13 carries.
- Week 16: 11 carries for 105 yards, 9.5 yards per carries. Had one carry for 72 yards; therefore averaged 3.3 yards per carry in his remaining 10 carries.
In sum, then, he had three carries all year in which he gained more than 20 yards. Subtracting those three out of his rushing statistics leaves 172 carries for 664 yards, which is 3.9 yards per carry. In other words, those three plays had a pretty dramatic effect on his yards per carry. That’s not to say that Croskey-Merritt didn’t earn those yards or that they didn’t count, because they did. The point is that those three carries boosted his yards per carry up to a level that he wasn’t achieving on a consistent basis. What I want to see in a running back is certainly someone who can break big carries, but also consistently gain significant yardage on each carry.
Subtracting the 72-yard carry from the Dallas game in week 16 actually leaves 10 games in which Croskey-Merritt gained 3.9 yards per carry or less.
How does this compare to other running backs? In 2025 total of 20 running backs averaged 4.6 or more yards per carry and at least an average of 6.25 carries per game, including Croskey-Merritt. The following chart lists those 20 running backs by yards per carry in 2025, and shows the number of carries, yards gained, yards per carry, number of carries over 20 yards, and then the number of carries, yards, and yards per carry minus those 20 yard carries, including Croskey-Merritt’s data discussed above:
| Name | Carries/yds | Yds/car | # gms over 4.5 | # over 20 / yds | Carries/Yds – 20+ carries | Yds/car – 20+ carries |
| De’Von Achane | 238/1350 | 5.7 | 13 | 13 / 449 | 225/901 | 4.0 |
| James Cook | 309/1621 | 5.2 | 10 | 9/319 | 300/1302 | 4.3 |
| Derrick Henry | 307/1595 | 5.2 | 10 | 17/533 | 290/1062 | 3.7 |
| Bijan Robinson | 287/1478 | 5.1 | 10 | 8/339 | 279/1139 | 4.1 |
| Blake Corum | 145/746 | 5.1 | 9 | 5/148 | 136/598 | 4.4 |
| TreVeyon Henderson | 180/911 | 5.1 | 6 | 6/294 | 174/617 | 3.5 |
| J.K. Dobbins | 153/772 | 5.0 | 5[1] | 5//142 | 148/630 | 4.3 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs | 243/1223 | 5.0 | 6 | 10/430 | 233/793 | 3.4 |
| Jonathan Taylor | 323/1585 | 4.9 | 7 | 9/407 | 314/1178 | 3.8 |
| D’Andre Swift | 223/1087 | 4.9 | 9 | 5/113 | 218/974 | 4.5 |
| Kyren Williams | 259/1252 | 4.8 | 12 | 6//149 | 253/1103 | 4.4 |
| Jordan Mason | 159/758 | 4.8 | 8 | 4/94 | 153/664 | 4.3 |
| Javonte Williams | 252/1201 | 4.8 | 6 | 6/192 | 246/1009 | 4.1 |
| Kenneth Gainwell | 114/537 | 4.7 | 5 | 2/94 | 112/443 | 4.0 |
| Kenneth Walker III | 221/1027 | 4.6 | 6 | 10/262 | 211/765 | 3.6 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson | 130/603 | 4.6 | 7 | 7/199 | 123/404 | 3.3 |
| Kyle Monangai | 169/783 | 4.6 | 6 | 3/94 | 166/689 | 4.2 |
| Rico Dowdle | 236/1076 | 4.6 | 7 | 5/174 | 231/902 | 3.9 |
| Jacory Croskey-Merritt | 175/805 | 4.6 | 7 | 3/141 | 172/664 | 3.9 |
It’s important to note here again that I removed the carries over 20 yards only to judge a running back’s consistency. Obviously long runs are good and important to the game, and I’m not trying to minimize that. The point is to see whether a particular running back is really gaining around 4.5 yards per carry on a regular basis or whether his breakaway carries boosted his yards per carry up beyond where it otherwise would be. In the case of Croskey-Merritt, the numbers show that his longer runs impacted his yards per carry in a pretty significant fashion. However, as shown in the chart above, of the 20 players who averaged 4.6 yards per carry and at least 6.25 carries per game, Croskey-Merritt was tied for 13th in yards per carry when the carries over 20 yards removed. That is actually better than his overall ranking.
What does all of this mean? First, I think my criticism of Croskey-Merritt was fair. However, that having been said, his type of performance – meaning, running backs who otherwise aren’t averaging 4.5 yards per carry without a handful of big plays – is actually for more common than I thought. It is pretty telling to me that his ranking actually went up a few spots with the carries over 20 yards removed from the data. Also, only one of these running backs actually accomplished my goal, D’Andre Swift, and only 4 others – Corum, Dobbins, Williams, and Mason – were within striking distance of that goal.
It’s also crucial to note that we’re only talking about the top 20 running backs in the NFL, as measured by yards per carry and a minimum of 6.25 carries per game. Croskey-Merritt inserted himself into this discussion in the first place by virtue of his quality play.
In conclusion, then, I think Washington should continue to give Croskey-Merritt a chance to earn the #1 running back spot, even despite the new faces in the running back room this year. Certainly, from the perspective of a player who was a 7th round draft pick, he’s been an overwhelming success. I think my criticism of him during last season was valid to an extent, but was overly harsh and failed to take into account what other players achieved.
Sorry, Bill.
See, folks: I told you that I didn’t have any preconceived notions of what this data was going to show. What do you think? Let me know in the comment section below.
[1] Dobbins only played in 10 games in 2025, so this number is artificially low, but shows that he accomplished this goal in 50% of his games last season.