Jacory Croskey-Merritt Week 1 Outlook - Giants at Commanders

By Derek Brown (FantasyPros), Thu, Sep 4th 2025, 1:05pm EDT

Jacory Croskey-Merritt was a predraft love lister for me. Sadly, he dropped all the way to the seventh round of the NFL Draft before the Commanders picked up the phone. If Croskey-Merritt hadn't had his 2024 season cut off by an eligibility issue, he would have gone much higher than this. His 2023 season was excellent. He ranked 19th in yards after contact per attempt and 12th in elusive rating (per PFF). He's a no-nonsense runner who makes one cut and gets downhill. We still have to see what his role in the backfield is this week. Yes, I know he was listed as the RB4 on the most recent depth chart. (clears throat) I DON'T CARE! I'm also old enough to remember when R.J. Harvey was listed at the bottom of the Denver Broncos depth chart. I think he will be the primary early down runner and get the goal line work, but I also know Chris Rodriguez remains on this roster. There's some risk running him out there this week as an RB2, but as a flex option for most teams, the risk is baked in. On paper, the Giants look like a plus matchup on the ground, but looks could be deceiving. Last year, in Weeks 10-18, New York allowed the ninth-highest explosive run rate, the 11th-highest missed tackle rate, and the second-most yards after contact per attempt. During part of that sample (after Week 13), Dexter Lawrence was out. The Giants also upgraded their run defense significantly this offseason with the additions of Abdul Carter, Jevon Holland, and Darius Alexander. I'm treating this as an average matchup until we see everything play out in Week 1.