Fantasy Football Advice: Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Ricky Pearsall, Tyler Warren

Two weeks of the NFL Preseason down, one more to go before we buckle in for the real thing in early September. Let’s dig into some of the noteworthy fantasy football developments from the second round of exhibition games. We’ll keep it to the stuff that’s actionable — or at least serious food for thought — for fantasy.

Fantasy Football Takeaways & Advice

Big, Beautiful ‘Bill’

The Washington Commanders held Brian Robinson Jr. out of their Monday-night game against the Bengals, reportedly because they’re trying to trade him. Chris Rodriguez started for Washington, played all four snaps on the first series, and delivered a 40-yard touchdown.

But the Commanders’ next drive belonged to seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who prefers to go by the name “Bill.”

Croskey-Merritt opened the drive with a 5-yard run. After Josh Johnson completed a 12-yard pass to Jaylin Lane on the next play, Croskey-Merritt snapped off a 27-yard TD run.

Croskey-Merritt finished with 11-46-1 rushing, and he had two catches for zero yards. Rodriguez had 6-62-0 rushing and wasn’t targeted in the passing game.

Rodriguez is a credible NFL backup. But the main attraction here is Bill.

Croskey-Merritt wasn’t invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. He played just one full college season in FBS. He had almost 1,200 rushing yards and 17 TD runs for New Mexico. Then he went to Arizona but had eligibility issues and played one game.

At his pro day, Croskey-Merritt put on a show, clocking a 4.45 and high-jumping 41.5 inches. And after being a late-seventh-round pick, Croskey-Merritt has reportedly been the star of Washington’s training camp, dazzling onlookers in Ashburn, Virginia.

With Croskey-Merritt looking so good that the Commanders feel comfortable trading away the competent but limited Robinson, a rankings shakeup is in order.

In half-point PPR, Croskey-Merritt moves up to RB38, one spot ahead of teammate Austin Ekeler (who didn’t play on Monday).

Robinson slips to RB43. His stock is nose-diving, but we can’t discount the possibility that he resurfaces in a useful role elsewhere.

Rodriguez moves up a bit to RB89 now that he’s likely to be a solid No. 3 in a good offense.

Stay tuned to a Commanders backfield in transition.

Warren Ready for Lift-Off

Colts TE Tyler Warren played 14 of 15 snaps with the starters Saturday against the Packers after playing all 20 snaps with the starters in Indy’s preseason opener.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen is signaling that Warren is going to be an every-down tight end. And who can blame Steichen for wanting that? He had to cycle through a motley collection of TEs last year that included Mo Alie-Cox, Kylen Granson, Will Mallory and Andrew Ogletree.

Warren only had one catch for 25 yards on Saturday, but it’s his playing time that has been attention-grabbing. Warren had more than 1,200 receiving yards for Penn State last year and accounted for 35.6% of the Nittany Lions’ receptions. He had eight TD catches last season, four TD runs, and one TD pass.

The meaty role that Warren has played in the preseason has me creeping him up to TE9 in my rankings, and I worry that I’m still too low.

Peppering Pearsall

On the 49ers’ opening drive against the Raiders on Saturday, Brock Purdy targeted second-year WR Ricky Pearsall four times, with Pearsall catching three of those passes for 42 yards.

Even though Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings are currently sidelined with injuries, it was an encouraging showing for Pearsall, who left the game when Brock Purdy did.

I currently have Pearsall ranked RB37, one spot ahead of Jennings, and I probably need to move Pearsall up into WR3 range. He could be a value pick this year.