The Washington Commanders surprised us all by advancing to the NFC Championship Game last season. So, going into this season, we all expected things to be quiet on the news front for the Commanders during camp and preseason. That hasn't been the case.
Not only is Terry McLaurin a candidate to be traded if a contract extension isn't met, but now RB Brian Robinson Jr. is being floated in trade reports. Robinson was held out of Washington's preseason game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.
All of this is seemingly because of the emergence of the RB referred to only as "Bill."
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Analyst Matt Harmon was joined by Faraz Siddiqi of Upper Hand Fantasy on the latest episode of The Yahoo Fantasy Forecast Podcast to discuss the situation in Washington's backfield.
Rookie RB Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt has performed so well in camp that it has seemingly opted the offense to phase out Robinson entirely, looking to move on from the back who had 187 carries for 799 yards and four TDs last season. Those numbers aren't anything to write home about and Robinson wasn't really the reason the Commanders offense was so successful last season (it was Jayden Daniels).
With the depth at running back with JCM, Austin Ekeler and Chris Rodriguez, the Commanders apparently don't feel the need to keep Robinson. In the Week 2 preseason game, we saw Croskey-Merritt lead the backfield with 11 carries for 46 yards and a TD. Rodriguez also had six carries for 62 yards, including a 40-yard scamper that set up a TD on the team's first drive.
Siddiqi also points out that among 857 FBS running backs with 200 or more carries since 2014, Croskey-Merritt ranked in the 95th percentile after contact rate, 98th percentile missed tackle rate and 97th percentile breakaway run rate. While he didn't play much for Power Conference schools, those are impressive marks.
The hype surrounding "Bill" has Yahoo analyst Justin Boone moving the back up in his rankings.
Only time will tell whether Croskey-Merritt is able to take over the Commanders backfield this season. His ADP on Yahoo is up to 126.5 over the past seven days. We could see that meteoric rise continue as we approach peak fantasy football draft season.
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