Playing in only one game for Arizona in the 2024 season appeared to jeopardize Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s chances of being chosen in the 2025 NFL Draft. But the former Sidney Lanier High School and Alabama State running back participated in the Washington Commanders’ rookie minicamp this weekend as a seventh-round selection.
“It’s a dream come true,” Croskey-Merritt said on Saturday. “Still soaking it in. Just happy to be here, but at the same time coming in working every day knowing that you got to put the work in to stay here. It’s a lot of emotions right now, but I’m ready to take on the challenges that come my way.”
Questions about Croskey-Merritt’s eligibility led Arizona to sideline the running back after he had produced 106 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries in a 61-39 victory over New Mexico in the Wildcats’ 2024 opener.
After compiling 1,361 rushing yards, 382 receiving yards, 378 kickoff-return yards, 231 punt-return yards and 10 touchdowns as a Montgomery prep standout in 2018, Croskey-Merritt ran for 1,161 yards and 13 touchdowns on 328 carries and caught 29 passes for 335 yards and one touchdown in 31 games across four seasons at Alabama State.
In 2023, Croskey-Merritt had 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns on 189 rushing attempts for New Mexico. But after he played in Arizona’s 2024 opener, new questions came up about whether Croskey-Merritt had redshirted for Alabama State in 2019 or appeared in more than four games for the Hornets.
While he never returned to the field for Arizona in 2024, Croskey-Merritt stayed with the team throughout the season.
“My main thing was I had God close to me,” Croskey-Merritt said. “He was with me the whole time. He gave me the strength to just get past that, and my mindset was like: ‘What’s next?’ I knew I had the talent to play at this level, and I just wanted to keep working in my craft every day -- just going to practice, being in meetings and lifting weights and stuff. So, I mean, it all paid off. I’m here now, I’m a Commander and it all paid off.”
Croskey-Merritt closed his college career by winning the Offensive MVP Award at the East-West Shrine Bowl on Jan. 30, when he ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries in his return to the field.
“It was good to go out there and compete with the other athletes and all that,” Croskey-Merritt said. “Just showing scouts, even though I sat out a year, I still was working, I’m still in good shape, can play with other guys like anybody in the country. That’s what I went out there and did, and it all worked out.”
Still, only 13 picks remained in the 90th NFL Draft when Washington chose Croskey-Merritt at No. 245.
“I feel like it all happened at the perfect time,” Croskey-Merritt said. “God already knew what was wrote for me, and I wouldn’t want to be nowhere else but to be in Washington and be a Commander, so I feel like it was perfect timing.”
At rookie minicamp, Croskey-Merritt worked with Washington running-backs coach Anthony Lynn, a former NFL running back and head coach.
“I just learned what’s going to work and what’s not going to work in this league,” Croskey-Merritt said. “Coach, he played in the league at the highest level, and I’ve just been soaking up a lot of game from him. It’s just a blessing to have a coach who done did what I’m trying to do.”
Croskey-Merritt will join another Alabama high school standout in the Commanders’ running-backs room. Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa’s Brian Robinson Jr. has led Washington in rushing annually since joining the Commanders from Alabama in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Washington also returns the three other running backs who topped 150 rushing yards for the Commanders in 2024 – Austin Ekeler, Jeremy McNichols and Chris Rodriguez.
“They’re going to get the best out of me every play,” Croskey-Merritt said, “and I’m going to try to -- well, I’m going to make those guys happy whenever that time comes. I’m just out here competing, and whenever my time comes, it’s going to be good.”
Croskey-Merritt goes by the nickname “Bill.” He picked it up because of his resemblance to a Nickelodeon cartoon character as a boy.
“Bill is a name that I got when I was younger,” Croskey-Merritt said. “I had a bald head, and my peers used to just call me Little Bill, and, like, it kind of just stuck to me then. So I mean I’m kind of fine with it. It became like a household nickname. I look forward to building a brand off it, so, I mean, I like it.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.