Within the Dynasty Fantasy Football community, most die-hard Dynasty enthusiasts have heard of Jacory Croskey-Merritt. But the main question is, does he have potential? After being selected by the Commanders in the 7th round (245th overall selection), JCM is a very underrated player who would have gone much higher if his 2024 season wasn’t cut short after one game due to an eligibility issue. As an older prospect at 24 years old, Croskey-Merritt has his work cut out for him, but he also has all the talent to become a hidden gem of Dynasty rookie drafts. Let’s dive in!
*Statistics from this article were pulled from Sports Reference*
College Production (2019 – 2024)
At 5’10” and 206 lbs, Croskey-Merritt began his collegiate career at Alabama State. He spent four seasons there before transferring to New Mexico in 2023, where he had his legendary season. In that one season for the Lobos, he averaged 6.3 yards per carry, rushed for 1,190 yards, and added an eye-popping 17 rushing touchdowns. Also, Croskey-Merritt added 13 receptions for 167 receiving yards. After one season with New Mexico, he transferred to Arizona, where in that one game, Croskey-Merritt averaged an impressive 8.2 yards per carry, totaling 106 rushing yards with one rushing touchdown and a long run of 36 yards.
JCM showed he was a very productive and reliable player during his last two seasons. Throughout his collegiate time, Croskey-Merritt showed he’s not your average seventh-round rookie. In 2023, he ranked 17th in the FBS in yards per carry (6.3), 19th in yards per carry after contact (3.98), and 12th in elusiveness rating (134.8) (min. 100 carries).
Strengths
Croskey-Merritt is a very talented player with elite start-stop acceleration in tight spaces, showcasing elite footwork, a crisp one-cut downhill running style, and the contact balance to run through defenders. Additionally, he’s very good at reading defenses and getting to the second level. He’s also shown breakaway speed and had a 4.45-second 40-yard dash time on his pro day and a 41.5-inch vertical jump, showcasing his athleticism. Most impressively, Croskey-Merritt runs with block anticipation and has shown the ability to snap off one-cut runs. It’s easy to see his highly competitive nature as he finishes strong and fights for every last yard from each run.
Weaknesses
The biggest red flag I see with Croskey-Merritt is that he’s an older prospect who, at 24 years old, spent six years in college and was nearly a non-factor in the passing game. This is very important in today’s modern NFL, as he will need to work on developing his pass-catching skills more. Additionally, he finds heavy collisions too frequently and more often than teams would desire, which could hurt his longevity.
Future Outlook
Overall, Croskey-Merritt is a player who offers a very intriguing combination of size, speed, and overall athleticism, and the value that the Commanders got by drafting him late in the 2025 NFL Draft is undeniable. Even though he didn’t get an invite to the NFL Combine, Merritt has proven to be an intriguing player and is one of the twitchiest backs in this class with elite change-of-direction skills. He has 35.3% missed tackles forced per attempt, ranking third behind Bhaysul Tuten and Ashton Jeanty in the 2025 running back class.
He brought his NFL stock back to life after a dominant performance in the East-West Shrine Bowl, where he scored twice and had an 8.8 yards per attempt while winning MVP. He put on a show in that game, proving that he has the vision, athleticism, and lateral agility to play on Sundays. One major positive is that, for being a six-year collegiate player, Croskey-Merritt doesn’t have a ton of tread on his tires after missing most of this past season.
It’s safe to assume that Croskey-Merritt will enter his rookie year with a big chip on his shoulder, but he has an opportunity to propel himself up the running back depth chart immediately. The Commanders’ ground game regressed last season, and it seems they’re poised to go with the player who impresses them the most throughout training camp and the preseason. It would be foolish to brush Croskey-Merritt off as a late-round afterthought with no chance of becoming an essential piece of the puzzle. It’s very possible that, with a strong showing in the coming months, General Manager Adam Peters and the Commanders might have pulled off a major draft heist. Additionally, Croskey-Merritt has a good situation with the Commanders, a run-heavy team behind the often-injured Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler, who are both free agents after the 2025 season. In the long term, the Commanders have no commitments and will be looking for the running back of their future, which makes Croskey-Merritt’s performance and status with the team even more intriguing to monitor. I believe Croskey-Merritt is the most explosive running back on the Commanders and should give himself a very good chance to win the starting running back job with the Commanders.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that Croskey-Merritt would have been drafted much higher if he hadn’t had eligibility issues limiting his last collegiate season to just one game. But as a prospect, he’s shown that, besides being an older player, he has potential. He’s very much someone that everyone in the Dynasty community needs to be watching carefully as we near training camp and the preseason. He’s a tremendous late-round Dynasty Fantasy Football target, and he’s a player I would choose to invest heavily in, as there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to pick Croskey-Merritt up with your final rookie pick in your Dynasty rookie drafts in the late fourth or even the fifth round. At this price, a player with this much upside and a potentially great long-term situation with the Commanders is worth taking a shot on and could become much more than the dart-throw price tag that he’s currently at within Dynasty rookie drafts.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you gained some valuable information. If you have any questions or you’d like additional insight and analysis, please follow me on Twitter/X at @MonicasHubby. #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
