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Arizona RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt lauded as 7th round steal for Washington

Consensus social media posts lauded the Washington Commanders as getting one of the steals of the 2025 NFL Draft after selecting former Arizona running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt in the seventh round.
ByAlan Rubenstein|
Aug 31, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt (1) scores a touchdown during fourth quarter at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images
Aug 31, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt (1) scores a touchdown during fourth quarter at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in his only game for Arizona during the season-opening victory over New Mexico, was selected 245th overall in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders on Saturday.

Croskey-Merritt transferred to Arizona for the 2024 season but only played in the season opener because of an eligibility issue. Before Arizona Croskey-Merritt ran for 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns in one season at New Mexico and 1,164 yards and 13 touchdowns in four seasons at Alabama State.

Croskey-Merritt played well at the East-West Shrine Game with 11 carries for 97 yards and two touchdowns. That performance came after over three months off because of the eligibility issue. During the 2023 season Croskey-Merritt was 18th nationally averaging 99.17 rushing yards per game and fifth in rushing TDs.

Croskey-Merritt will officially be the first RB drafted from Arizona since Gary Brightwell was selected in the sixth round in 2018. In the 247Sports composite rankings, Croskey-Merritt was the 285th transfer and 30th RB in the 2025 portal. Arizona ran for a season-high 205 yards versus New Mexico.

Without Croskey-Merritt, Arizona had five games rushing for under 100 yards. Croskey-Merritt finished third on Arizona in rushing yards despite playing one game. In 2023 with New Mexico, Croskey-Merritt had four games of over 100 yards rushing, including combing for 442 rushing yards in the final two contests.

NFL analyst Lance Zierlein said of Croskey-Merritt in his combine analysis that "He’s a quick processor with adequate size and impressive cut quickness to find yards in a crowded workspace." Zierlein lists six positives to four negatives in his scouting report of Croskey-Merritt.

The ESPN Washington Commanders depth chart lists Brian Robinson Jr. as the starting RB with his backups as veteran Austin Ekeler, Jeremy McNicholas and Chris Rodriguez. Robinson led Washington RBs with 799 yards rushing in 2024. Ekeler had 367 rushing and topped Washington RBs with 367 receiving.

McNicholas had 261 rushing yards and Rodriguez 171. Rodriguez was a sixth round pick in 2023 and had 420 rushing yards with four TDs as a rookie. McNicholas signed a one-year contract with Washington as a free agent in 2024 and re-signed in March. Croskey-Merritt should have a good chance to challenge

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