00:00The running back situation, man, on Sunday was very, very interesting.
00:06You know, Bill Krosky-Meritt, I know that there's great love for Bill.
00:12I think for whatever reason, you saw some highlights, got drafted in the seventh round.
00:19They kind of liked him, rookie minicamp.
00:21Some people probably started to say some nice things about him,
00:24and all of a sudden they had found their running back in the seventh round of an NFL draft,
00:29which is very, very rare, very rare, to find a contributing seventh round running back in the NFL.
00:37I remember doing the numbers on it.
00:39It was like in 10 years there was like one that had actually been a contributor.
00:46But look, I thought he was good last year.
00:49I mean, inconsistent, but I thought Krosky-Meritt was pretty good last year.
00:53I think he had some size, he had some ability, he had some burst.
00:59He had some vision and feel, and he had some good football games last year.
01:04It really started in that Charger game, or on opening day, when he had the big run on opening day.
01:10And it's like at that point, everybody's, oh, they got their running back.
01:14And then he had a really good game against the Chargers with Jaden back.
01:18In fact, that was the best offensive game of the year for the team.
01:22They were outstanding.
01:23They ran off 27 unanswered after falling behind 10-0.
01:26And he went for over 100 in that game on not a lot of carries.
01:31And then there were moments during the year where it's like, yeah, you know, he's good.
01:36He's nice for a seventh rounder.
01:39But he doesn't have that ability after he gets to that second level.
01:44But then he broke the big one on Christmas Day, 72 yards, against the Cowboys.
01:49So I think there was a lot of hope in Krosky Merritt coming back.
01:52There was a lot of buzz over Krosky Merritt over the summer about how he looked bigger and stronger and
02:00faster.
02:00And certainly in year two, he would be more experienced from, you know, a pass-blocking standpoint, from a pass
02:07-catching standpoint.
02:09And yet they went out and signed Rashad White.
02:12And Rashad White, I knew when they signed him that he was going to be a contributor in a major
02:19way.
02:19I think most of you knew it too.
02:21Through four games, I think my eyes tell me that there are two things that are making Krosky Merritt's overall
02:35output
02:36look very, very subpar.
02:39I mean, he's averaging 2.8 yards per carry.
02:42In his last two games, he averaged 1.9 yards per carry against Seattle.
02:48Yes, there was a 48-yarder brought back.
02:51That would have helped the average.
02:52And then against Indy, he was 1.7 yards per carry.
02:58Nine carries, 15 yards.
03:00He did have a really good catch on a check down and looked great on a 35-yard play against
03:08the Colts.
03:09To me, and I'll get into some of the numbers in a moment.
03:12To me, Krosky Merritt looks like he is not seeing it.
03:18He's not being patient enough.
03:20And there are things out there that he is missing.
03:24Missing.
03:24Now, at the same time, I don't think there's a lot there for him a lot of the time.
03:32And I raved about how good Eckler looked on Sunday because he did.
03:39You know, four carries, 29 yards, 7.3 yards per carry.
03:43But some of that can sometimes be the, you know, the down and distance in which he's in.
03:50And the defense that you're facing, you know, is he in there and making runs against nickel?
03:56Or is he in there making those runs against base?
03:59Because Krosky Merritt usually is making some of those runs against a base defense.
04:04Early down, base defense.
04:06But I think Krosky Merritt looks very ordinary.
04:12Craig, who is a longtime listener, never calls, never emails, sent me an email with some data on Krosky Merritt
04:23that says out of 53 running backs in the NFL, he is 48th in a stat in which he's not
04:36achieving, essentially, the yards that are there.
04:39So in terms of his ability to get the yards that are blocked up, he's 48th in getting those yards.
04:46That's what my eyes tell me, if that's an actual stat from Craig.
04:51Craig provided me with pages of advanced numbers on Krosky Merritt.
04:57My eyes tell me it's not blocked up well, but also he's missing things because of his lack of patience
05:04and his vision isn't there yet.
05:08I do think that we'll see a game with Bill Krosky Merritt breaking a big one and ending up with,
05:15you know,
05:16nine carries for 68 yards because there's going to be a 52-yarder.
05:22There's going to be a 48-yarder in there.
05:24And maybe two catches for 41 yards because he took a check down and busted it for 28 yards.
05:31I do think that he's capable of those kinds of games.
05:34But right now, you've got to get more consistency out of that position because the upside of a big chunk
05:46run,
05:4720-plus yards, explosive, versus getting the three or four when they're there.
05:54So it's not second and 14 as it was on that first drive in the red zone Sunday, but it's
06:00second and six.
06:02They have to have that kind of a back right now.
06:05I personally think that back is Austin Eckler.
06:08I think it can be Rashad White as well.
06:10I don't know that it's Katron Allen at this point.
06:13I don't think it's Craig Reynolds at this point.
06:16K.J.
06:17Henry got plucked off the practice squad by Seattle.
06:21I am a little bit curious as to why he wasn't brought up versus Craig Reynolds.
06:26Craig Reynolds was not a bad player for that few-year period in Detroit.
06:33And when they brought him in over the summer, I thought that there was a possibility that he would also
06:39be a returner,
06:40which I think he was in Detroit as well on kickoff returns.
06:47But I don't know why K.J.
06:50Henry wasn't called up.
06:51I liked him in that one preseason game.
06:54Was it the first one, the Miami game, where he looked really good?
06:57I forget.
06:58The UTSA running back?
07:00The roadrunner running back?
07:02That's UTSA?
07:04But, you know, guys get plucked off practice squads all the time.
07:08Washington has plucked people off practice squads who have ended up contributing.
07:11But given the running back issue that they have and that they ended up calling up Craig Reynolds as a
07:17fourth active running back on Sunday,
07:20and all four got carries, there is a recognition that, hey, we got to find somebody that can give us
07:28what we want consistently.
07:30And they tried everything Sunday.
07:32The only thing that worked was Eckler.
07:35I don't know if he was on a snap count or what.
07:38But if Rashad White's not ready to go Sunday, it should be Eckler, I think, personally, getting the majority of
07:45snaps and carries.
07:47Because I don't think Bill sees it right now.
07:50So, all right, we'll do some NFL buy and sell next.
07:59All right.
