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When is Jacory Croskey-Merritt coming back? Will Jacory Croskey-Merritt play again this season? Read about Jacory Croskey-Merritt's return date and injury updates for 2026.
Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt (groin) is the starting running back for the Washington Commanders this season, if depth chart and workload have anything to say about it.
Through five games before he suffered an injury, he averaged just under 9.0 PPR fantasy points per game. That's not enough for him to be in starting consideration on fantasy football rosters, though the RB position is very thin talent-wise, so many fantasy managers didn't have much of a choice.
So when will he return from his ailment? And can he improve his play to reach RB2 or even RB1 status at any point this season? Let's dive in.
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Jacory Croskey-Merritt Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Since he's been on injured reserve, the Commanders have not provided an update on his status.
The Commanders had a bye in Week 7, meaning he had an extra week to heal but is still a few weeks away from his earliest return.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt (lower body) continues to work back from his injury according to Commanders HC Dan Quinn, but is practicing in at least limited fashion today. https://t.co/T7ZZSQoIl6
— David Harrison (@DHarrison82) August 25, 2026
It's worth noting that he was dealing with an unspecified "lower-body" injury back in August, before the season started. It's unclear if this was the same groin issue that's been aggravated.
Either way, as we've not seen anything that suggests the injury is serious, we can expect him back after his mandatory four-game absence. That puts his return at Week 11.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt Fantasy Football Outlook
Croskey-Merritt's insane hype train as a rookie undrafted free agent has slowed down significantly. He makes explosive runs here and there, but is largely inefficient and struggles with contact balance.
The Commanders offense has been inconsistent this year, largely due to injuries to its starting quarterback, Jayden Daniels. Daniels is also a prolific rusher, and often opts to pull down potential handoffs on option plays.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt might be very bad at football https://t.co/uU3woamba7
— Box Score Scout (@boxscorescout) October 12, 2026
The above chart shows how his success rate on rushes is low despite opposing defenses not stacking the box very often against him. This is a bad sign. Though stacked boxes may continue to not come often against him, as they're a bad idea against quality rushing QBs, JCM appears to just not be great.
Which is something my analysis pointed out last season, even after his huge game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Croskey-Merritt needs to run untouched for long stretches to make his explosive plays. He's not good at breaking tackles.
Chris Rodriguez probably maintains his goal line role for the Commanders because Jacory Croskey-Merritt is not capable of running through linebackers. Doesn't have the strength or power to do so even with some speed built up. https://t.co/NoHxG9Jf2Q
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) November 13, 2025
Last season, he failed to take the goal-line rushing role from RB Chris Rodriguez Jr. Croskey-Merritt's lack of power makes him a better rusher "in between the 20s" or outside the short areas near the goal line, where power and slipperiness are crucial to scoring touchdowns.
He does have two rushing touchdowns this year, but it doesn't take long to dive into his film and see how he scores -- on plays where he's not touched by opposing defenders.
TOUCHDOWN
The man they call 'Bill', Jacory Croskey-Merritt gets his first ever NFL touchdown!
#RaiseHail https://t.co/SsNSmV1T4e
— Chad Ryan (@ChadwikoTWW) September 7, 2025
He's an RB3 with a low floor that occasionally has a double-digit PPR fantasy point game, which isn't good enough for weekly starting rights outside of deep leagues.
While he remains out, Rachaad White should lead the Washington backfield while Austin Ekeler serves as the No. 2.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Week 8 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Rachaad White, Austin Ekeler, Stefon Diggs. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 8.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 8 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 8 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 8 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 8 for Rachaad White, Austin Ekeler, Stefon Diggs:
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