- 21 hours ago
JP has a lot of faith that Jacory Croskey-Merritt will take a big leap this year for the Washington Commanders. What are your expectations for Croskey-Merritt this season?
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00:00All right, we wanted to get into some audio yesterday that JP uttered on the show
00:05talking about expectations for Ja'Cory Krosky Merritt.
00:09So this is another situation where the producers are horrified by something that we say.
00:13For the commanders heading into 2026.
00:15We just want to talk about your expectations, should they be tempered for Bill
00:20for his second campaign here in Washington, D.C.
00:23I expect Krosky Merritt to be the starter.
00:27He might be the starter, but he's not going to be a 20-carry-a-game guy.
00:31Probably not, though.
00:32He gave 800, though.
00:33I kind of think he should be in 1,000 yards this year.
00:37So if JP asked him at 1,000 yards, he's expected to start.
00:41I don't think that's unreasonable.
00:4217 running backs last year had 1,000 yards or more.
00:46He actually finished 23rd in the league in rushing.
00:49He averaged 4.6 yards per carry.
00:52If you look at the top 17 guys who all finished with 1,000 yards,
00:56half of them had better than 4.6 yards per carry
01:01because you're talking about the elite guys.
01:03Right.
01:03Right?
01:03But half of them had below.
01:05So his yards per carry are great.
01:07And then if you look at his games played last year,
01:10eight times he didn't even have 10 carries.
01:13Yeah.
01:13Just get me up to 200 to 225 carries, he'll get you to 1,000 yards.
01:19I think it's completely reasonable.
01:21The boys behind the glass are saying I was glazing Bill.
01:23You kind of are.
01:24He had 805 yards.
01:26No, I would agree.
01:27I'm not saying he's great.
01:27I'm just saying if he gets a few more carries per game.
01:30Yeah.
01:30Yeah.
01:30Just do the math.
01:31If he gets three more carries per game, he's going to get to 1,000 yards.
01:36Yeah.
01:36I mean, if he gets to 200 carries, what did he have last year?
01:40175.
01:41Yeah.
01:41Limited.
01:42So if he gets to 200 to 215.
01:43I would put him right at 1,000 if he had his 4.5.
01:46He'd probably be right in that.
01:47He averaged 4.6 last year.
01:48I'm going to pass out projections from an online sportsbook to you guys as far as what they're expecting from.
01:53From these total running backs in 2026.
01:57Let me just say this.
01:57And if you want to.
01:58This is very small print.
01:59My eyes can't really see.
02:00Bring your readers.
02:01Let's open this up to callers.
02:031-800-636-1067.
02:05Am I glazing Bill too much?
02:08Is that unreasonable to expect Ja'Cory Krosky Merritt to cross 1,000 yards?
02:14Well, here's who this sportsbook believes are going to be in that 1,000-yard category as far as, like,
02:20for betting purposes.
02:21Right.
02:21You have Bill now in company with guys like Ashton Gentty from the Raiders, who they have at 1,000
02:28yards.
02:28You have him in the same category as Christian McCaffrey, basically at 999 yards.
02:34Devon Achan, who was a super stud last year, also right at 1,000 yards.
02:39Guys like Kyron Williams at 1,000 yards.
02:42I mean, I think that ceiling is potentially there, but his prop at this point is basically dead even with
02:50Rashad White's prop.
02:52Krosky Merritt's prop here is 575 rushing yards, and Rashad White's is at 550.
02:57I think you should go over that.
02:58They're expecting a split, like a split right down the middle of the rushing.
03:04All right, so wait a second.
03:04You don't think he's getting to 1,000 yards?
03:07I think 1,000 yards is aggressive with the presence of Rashad White.
03:10Take a side, Cakes.
03:12I think he's going to be under 1,000 yards.
03:14Under 1,000 yards.
03:15It might not be a high lot.
03:16You cherry-pick some better names.
03:17I would put him in the class of Chase Brown.
03:21Chase Brown is pretty good.
03:23You sleep on Chase Brown's numbers.
03:24That's fine.
03:251,019 yards, 4.4 yards per carry.
03:30Per carry, Bill was better.
03:32Rico Dowdle, same type of player, 4.6 yards per carry.
03:37These guys just got more carries.
03:39They had, and I think it's understandable that as a rookie, they weren't giving him the
03:45ball that much.
03:46He was in the doghouse there a little bit.
03:47He was in the doghouse in the middle.
03:48Again, eight times he didn't even have 10 carries.
03:52If he just gets a little more volume.
03:54But JP, remember, a lot of those games, Jaden wasn't there.
03:57So, if you factor in Jaden's rushing, he's going to take a lot of carries and yards away
04:02from the RBs.
04:03I don't think they settled in as him being the number one guy.
04:07I would go over 575.
04:10Yes.
04:11I would probably take the over on that.
04:13But under 1,000.
04:14Yeah, I would go under 1,000.
04:15But I would definitely go over the 575.
04:171-800-636-1067.
04:20Want to hear from Commanders fans.
04:21What are your expectations for Ja'Cory Krosky-Meritt, Bill, in his second season?
04:27Last year, he gives you eight touchdowns, 805 yards on 175 carries, 4.6 yards per carry.
04:34His PFF grade was pretty strong, too.
04:37His PFF grade was 75.4.
04:41I just think they didn't necessarily know what they had in him.
04:44There was a lot of hype in training camp.
04:47And then, as EB mentioned, there was a little bit of a doghouse situation for a while because
04:52he was fumbling a little bit.
04:54Yeah.
04:55He only had two games where he went over 100.
04:58Basically, three because he had one game where he went to 96.
05:00So, you give him three for roughly 100 yards.
05:03Yeah.
05:04The only thing I think is that he looks a little slight to me.
05:07I just get worried.
05:08He bulked up a bit in the offseason.
05:09Looks like he added like 10 to 15 pounds of muscle.
05:12I'd have to see that.
05:12I'd have to see that.
05:13He looks a little slight to me.
05:14So, like he's getting ready possibly for more work, for more carries.
05:17And then, with White there, I just think he's going to split the load.
05:21So, I don't know.
05:22I think he's probably talented enough if he gets enough carries.
05:25If he gets two more carries per game.
05:28Two more carries per game.
05:29Basically, last year, he was at 10 carries per game.
05:31Yeah.
05:32Bump him to 12 carries per game.
05:33That gets me to 961.
05:36If three more carries a game, he's over.
05:38That's if he gets the same yards per carry.
05:41If he averages 4.6.
05:42Right.
05:43Well, the reason why I asked the 4.6 is because he has the home run potential.
05:47Yeah, yeah.
05:48And that's what hooks him.
05:49Yeah, he can hit a long one.
05:50Yeah, he can take one to the house.
05:52And that's, you know, he needs a couple of those to get there.
05:55But if he comes out of camp and he's the number one RB, he's going to get those carries.
06:00He'll get 15 carries a game.
06:00If he's the clear cut number one.
06:03I just think Rashad White is going to cut into some of that workload.
06:06I think so, too.
06:07Grant and Dan were also discussing a list.
06:10And, Drab, you can tell me where this list came from.
06:12I'm not sure which site.
06:13PFF.
06:13PFF published the top running backs in the league, ranked them 1 through 32.
06:19And they have Ja'Cory Krosky-Meritt at 30.
06:22And their blurb about him was he was one of the league's best underdog stories as a seventh-round pick.
06:27He wound up leading the commanders with 805 rushing yards, the 75.4 PFF grade that JP talked about.
06:34Washington did right in the offseason by adding Rashad White.
06:38But Krosky-Meritt should garner the majority of the carries, particularly with Chris Rodriguez.
06:43Departing for Jacksonville.
06:45So, PFF kind of believes that the bulk of the carries are going to go to Bill.
06:50And that Rashad White will play, like, backup-slash-receiving-back type role.
06:56And if they're right and the bulk of the carries means over 200 carries, then JP's probably right.
07:01Then he could be right around 1,000 rushing yards.
07:03But he wasn't that far off last season.
07:05Right.
07:06He's also got to get better at catching the ball.
07:09And I'm sure he probably worked on that.
07:10And at pass pro.
07:10Pass protection is a big thing.
07:12And we know that Rashad White is better at that than Krosky-Meritt.
07:16I mean, your RB, who's a smaller, faster guy, he needs to be able to catch the ball in open
07:20field.
07:21Right.
07:21Absolutely.
07:22How many catches did he have last year?
07:23Didn't have a lot.
07:23Nine.
07:24Nine catches for 68 yards.
07:26So, clearly, he either can't do it or they just didn't want to use him in that role.
07:29But I would think that they would use him in that role this year.
07:31If he has a sophomore slump, I'll obviously be wrong.
07:35But if he simply plays like he did last year and gets a couple more carries per game, he's in
07:41the 1,000-yard range.
07:43I don't think it's crazy.
07:44By the way, they have the over-under on James Cook for 1,200 rushing yards in Buffalo this season.
07:49How many backs did he break out last year?
07:51Did you say he had over 1,000 last year?
07:5317.
07:55He was 23rd ranked.
07:57Yeah.
07:57Right.
07:59I just think he's going to split the carries.
08:01That's all.
08:01I just don't think he's the obvious, like, bell cow, going to get 15 carries a game.
08:07Split the carries last year.
08:08Yeah.
08:09I think he's just going to get a little bit more.
08:10Well, I think what hooked him last year, and I'm not down on him, but I think what hooked him
08:13is the 72-yard run.
08:15You know, he had a 42-yard one in week one.
08:18He'll have those big plays.
08:19I think he's going to give up carries, but I don't know if it's going to be an even split.
08:21I think it might be, like, a 60-65% go to Bill.
08:2435 to Rashad.
08:26Yeah, but...
08:26And then you sprinkle in the backups.
08:28But the pass catching that he's going to do, that Rashad White is going to do, is going to still
08:32take away carries.
08:33Yeah, sure.
08:34But think about this.
08:35I don't think he's going to have this situation where at the beginning of the season...
08:38So he opened the year last year against the Giants.
08:41Complete unknown.
08:42A lot of hype in training camp, right?
08:44Mm-hmm.
08:45Gets 10 carries.
08:46The next three games, he had 4, 8, 7.
08:50Yeah, he was used sparingly.
08:51I think he's going to get a lot more carries on a regular basis.
08:54Unless he puts it on the carpet.
08:56I don't expect him to have games where he gets four carries.
08:58Look, if Bill gets the majority of the carries and is good at protecting the football and is better at
09:04pass protection,
09:05he has a ceiling of being a 1,000-plus-yard rusher in this offense.
09:10Why do you expect him to get more carries?
09:13Because I think that he is heading into the season the number one running back.
09:18Is he more of a proven commodity, maybe?
09:21Yes.
09:21I don't know that he's more proven than Rashad White.
09:23Look at Rashad White's productivity while he was in Tampa.
09:26He was not just a receiving threat.
09:28He was a pretty capable running back.
09:28No, no.
09:29It's not to say he's more of a proven threat than him.
09:31No, but he had less carries last year than Bill did.
09:35Well, that's because Bucky Irvin was a star.
09:38They didn't really expect that.
09:40But I think the point is that early on, they didn't know what they had.
09:43He had a big week one, but then they kind of iced him for a little while.
09:47Then he was good in the middle, and then they kind of iced him for a little while.
09:50He was hit or miss, hit or miss, hit or miss throughout the season.
09:54I love Bill and the story.
09:55I think it's great.
09:56But I think Rashad White is more of a threat to his playing time than a lot of people are
10:00thinking about.
10:02And that may be true.
10:03Here's another thing to consider.
10:05We don't know how the season is going to go.
10:06However, when they were on that losing streak, losing, losing, losing, and trailing all those games, you're passing.
10:14Sure.
10:14You're trailing game scripts.
10:16Hopefully, you're in games more, which should mean your running back gets more carries.
10:22Bleeding clock.
10:23That makes sense.
10:25But I mean, the Miami game in Madrid was tight, and he only had nine carries.
10:29The game in Denver was tight.
10:30He only had four.
10:33So, I don't know.
10:34If he's the clear cover, number one.
10:35Look at the stretch of games where they're getting smashed, right?
10:38Where they're losing by 20 points plus.
10:40He still had 13 carries, 9 carries, 12 carries.
10:43If those are close games, he's getting the ball in the fourth quarter.
10:45Yeah, probably.
10:47If he's the clear-cut number one, I think you're probably right.
10:50He's going to get more than 175.
10:51The thing is, look at those games, though.
10:53And it's scary.
10:542.5 yards per carry.
10:562.8 yards per carry.
10:573.2 yards per carry.
10:582.7.
10:59Like, the yards per carry thing is totally carried by the couple long runs that he had.
11:05That's what's a little bit scary.
11:07And to me, he's not a belt-out.
11:08In some of the games.
11:08He's not a stud.
11:10Like, I just...
11:11That's the only thing I'm concerned about him.
11:13He's not going to just grind to get you five yards, put his head down.
11:17You're concerned about the scattershot usage.
11:20He's not that type of back.
11:22Like, certain games, he had four carries.
11:23He's a little too slight.
11:25And then he had four carries against Denver.
11:27Then he spikes to 18 carries against the Giants.
11:30And then he goes back to eight carries the next week.
11:33Like, is he going to have a consistent...
11:36He gets 12, 14, 16 carries per game every single week.
11:41Probably not.
11:41Is he going to have that role?
11:42Probably not.
11:43I don't know.
11:43The other thing which we're going to see this year...
11:46Look, if he fumbles in back-to-back games like he did last year, he's not.
11:48Well, there are other guys that can pick up the slack.
11:50Correct.
11:50Rashad White, Catron Allen.
11:52The other thing we're going to see this year is a more traditional offense.
11:55Right.
11:56With Jaden Daniels under center.
11:58And we'll see how that impacts the running backs and the running game overall.
12:02Isn't the assumption it would be kind of like how the Lions had their running backs split carries?
12:09It's the assumption, but we don't know.
12:10Yeah.
12:11All right.
12:12Let's go to Matt in Stafford.
12:14800-636-1067 if you want to chime in.
12:19Is it realistic to expect Bill to go over 1,000 yards?
12:24I think the whole town, though, should go over the 575.
12:28I do like that.
12:29I mean, now, obviously, an injury could catapult that or destroy that.
12:34But let's go to Matt.
12:36Yeah, I don't think it's so realistic.
12:40Like you said, he'd be, I agree with you, he's kind of slight.
12:43They said they put on weight, but Catron Allen isn't slight.
12:47He's a beast.
12:48And go watch his tape.
12:50Right.
12:51He's going to take some carries, too.
12:52He can do it all.
12:53Yeah.
12:54He might be on the practice squad.
12:56No, but he might be active.
12:57I could see him being active.
12:58And I could see him being a goal line guy.
13:02I think about what people said about Alfred Morris.
13:04You know, I think he's going to end up being the week one starter.
13:08That's my prediction.
13:10Yeah, Catron.
13:11He's going to take it and run.
13:12Where'd you go to school?
13:13He got drafted in the sixth.
13:15Say that again?
13:16Where'd you go to school?
13:17Are you a Penn State guy?
13:19Yeah, I went to Penn State.
13:20You're a little bit biased.
13:22I can just feel it.
13:22A little bit biased.
13:23Yeah.
13:24It's a good call.
13:24I know a ball.
13:25Good call.
13:26It's a ball.
13:27Can you feel it?
13:28I also don't think Ja'Cory Krosky married a slight.
13:31511-208 is not slight.
13:33He looks a little slight to me.
13:34That's all.
13:35Just what he looks like.
13:36He's pretty solid.
13:39Go ahead.
13:39You think about the, it's just one round sooner, but, you know, you think about hierarchy,
13:45the way GM looks at it, he's a sixth-round guy.
13:49Krosky married the seventh.
13:50I'd almost expect White to have more of a role than Bill.
13:55So you think Bill's going to be diminished this year?
13:59I could see a smaller role for Bill this year.
14:02Well, we'll see.
14:03That's how I see it.
14:03You know what?
14:04It is an interesting point.
14:05Thank you, Matt.
14:06Appreciate the call.
14:07Thanks, guys.
14:08All right, buddy.
14:08800-636-1067 if people want to chime in.
14:12He does bring up the X-Factor.
14:14I do think Catron is the X-Factor.
14:16He's definitely an X-Factor.
14:17You're talking about a proven college back.
14:20I don't think he'll be a practice squad guy.
14:23I don't think so, either.
14:24I think he'll be on the active.
14:24I think he'll be more likely that McNichols will be inactive on game day.
14:28And they've shown that they have no problems starting a late-round running back and giving
14:32him carries.
14:32They did it with Bill last year.
14:34They'll do it with Catron.
14:35There's a bell cow at Penn State.
14:38All-time leading rusher.
14:40That's not a small program.
14:42It's not like the all-time leading rusher at Idaho.
14:47Maybe he's going to beat out everybody and be the week one starter.
14:50It's possible.
14:52He doesn't blow you away with anything except just grind you out.
14:58Four and a half yards of carry.
15:01That's what Allen seems to be.
15:02We'll see if the staff gives him an opportunity.
15:05I think they will.
15:06I think they will, too.
15:06I think they will.
15:07He looks like more of the tank.
15:111-800-636-1067.
15:14Talking about the Commander's running game and whether Ja'Cory Krosky-Meritt will emerge
15:19as a 1,000-yard rusher.
15:21You can call in at 1-800-636-1067.
15:24Give us your take.
15:25We're the Junkies.
15:25Coming right back.
15:26We're the Junkies.
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