Towards the end of training camp, Washington Commanders rookie Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt turned a lot of heads with his play. Despite still having some obstacles to overcome in the NFL, the young running back is showing no shortage of confidence.
Croskey-Merritt carried his momentum into the preseason, showing the Commanders he can be a contributor from day one. This led to many making the case for the seventh-round pick to be a featured back in Washington this year. Such discourse only got louder when the Commanders traded Brian Robinson Jr. to the San Francisco 49ers.
Still with a handful of viable running backs on the roster, Croskey-Merritt doesn't have a clear path to consistent playing time just yet. While he managed to become a fan favorite, the coaching staff seems like it still needs to see more. In the Commanders' first official depth chart of the season, Croskey-Merritt finds himself as the fourth-string running back.
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Jacory Croskey-Merritt remaining confident ahead of potential Commanders debut
On Sunday, the Commanders will open the regular season with a matchup against the New York Giants. Seeing that he's low on the depth chart, it's unclear if Croskey-Merritt will get any snaps in the backfield. Nonetheless, he is keeping himself in the right frame of mind.
While speaking with the media after practice on Wednesday, Crokey-Merritt opened up on how he's feeling ahead of his first year in the NFL. Though he was drafted in a later round, he is confident he can provide a boost for Washington if given the chance.
"I always said like seventh round don't mean nothing to me," Croskey-Merritt said. "I can play ball. They found me so, it's going to be good. I don't really like to talk about what I'm going to do but, I feel like a seventh-rounder don't mean nothing for me."
Croskey-Merritt's confidence doesn't end there, as he went on to rave about the Commanders' offense as a whole heading into the 2025 campaign.
"Very good," he continued. "We got a lot of athletes around us and we got guys that can do everything on this offense. I'm definitely ready to just go to war with them."
The Commanders will begin their quest back to the NFC Championship game at 1:00 pm Sunday when they face off against New York.
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