Bill Croskey-Merritt isn’t a true feature back, but there’s no doubt that he’s the primary Commanders rusher.
He has taken 57% of carries by running backs through five games and leads his position group in rushing yards by more than double.
While his 3.6 yards per carry is inefficient by any standard, losing him for any stretch calls for some adjustment. The Commanders must make some on Monday night against the 49ers, a game he’ll miss with a groin injury.
Dan Quinn said it’s a ‘re-injury’ off a groin issue suffered in late August that kept him out until the regular-season opener.
“That’s harder, on the same injury,” Quinn said. “We’ll work really hard to get him back.”
Washington has the benefit of a Week 7 bye to get Croskey-Merritt right. That could set him up to miss just one game. Or maybe not.
The Commanders must find new ways to generate a steady ground game on Monday at least.
Quinn said Washington will lean on a group of ball carriers, though all of them are dealing with injury in some way or another. Recent signing (and old friend) Austin Ekeler has a chest injury and was in a non-contact jersey during the practice. Rachaad White has battled a shoulder injury for a few weeks, and was in a non-contact jersey on Thursday. Both guys were cleared to play on Monday night, via the team’s official injury report.
And veteran Jeremy McNichols has been on injured reserve thus far recovering from a quadriceps issue but seems poised and ready to return.
This is one of more professional ball players in terms of how he works and what he can bring,” Quinn said. “As we get to Monday – he has had a very good Monday, and we’ll decide from there.”
Washington should have the backs available to carry the workload, but they must be efficient while facing San Francisco’s No. 11-ranked run defense.
Can they be efficient as standard ball carriers? White and Ekeler are sitting at (roughly) four yards per carry. McNichols hasn’t seen game action to this point.
It’s possible. The outer flanks have been good rushing locations from a blocking standpoint and all those guys have the speed and agility to run well outside. It’s hard to call any of those three tough interior runners, which could be an issue.
All of those guys are good pass protectors and receivers out of the backfield. The Commanders haven’t used that avenue much to this point, with running backs (including Croskey-Merritt) with a combined 17 catches for 83 yards.
Finding them the ball is space could be important, considering their potential explosiveness in the passing game.
There’s also the Jayden Daniels factor to consider here. He is Washington’s most dangerous and dynamic rushing threat on designed runs, zone-reads and scramble plays. We saw how good Daniels is in that arena during Week 5, when he had 103 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries. We could see more of those designs in this one to keep the 49ers off balance.
“We’re lucky the teams have to account for the quarterback in our run game as well,” offensive coordinator David Blough said in a Thursday press conference. “So, we’ll continue to lean into that and, you know, grow it as the season progresses.”
The Commanders will use a committee in the backfield and capitalize on Daniels’ speed, but White’s logically the leading rusher. Ekeler has been with the team but a few weeks and is coming off a torn ACL from early last year. And McNichols hasn’t played yet.
White has been a high-volume carrier in the past, with 272 carries representing Tampa Bay in 2023, with 990 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He has generally split time, however, but hit 17 carries twice in the past two seasons.
The Commanders are at their best with high rushing volume, which Blough has been committed to achieving. Can they get there without Croskey-Merritt? That will be key to keeping the 49ers at bay.