Commanders are hoping late round rookie can relieve Jayden Daniels of a burden he had to carry in 2024

The Washington Commanders offense was as deadly as they come in 2024, but there are still plenty improvements to be made if the unit wants to take the next step in 2025.

One such advancement would be adding an explosive element to the running game. The Commanders return all four guys from last year's running back room in Brian Robinson Jr., Austin Ekeler, Jeremy McNichols, and Chris Rodriguez, which forms a pretty solid group. Each guy had their own unique bit of success in 2024, prompting the team to extend/re-sign the latter two in order to keep things together. 

The only thing is none of those guys possess "home-run" ability, so to speak, and it was left up to Jayden Daniels to make big plays happen on the ground in 2024, as legendary film analyst Greg Cosell recently pointed out on the John Keim Report podcast:

"They don't have an explosive running back, that is one thing you could say they are perhaps lacking. I've always liked Brian Robinson, but he is a grinder. But when you do have a quarterback that is part of your base running game, that obviously is a big factor because it changes the way defenses have to play. That's a big deal and in some ways, Daniels is their explosive back." - Greg Cosell on the John Keim Report via Commanders Wire

Last year, the Commanders finished seventh in runs of 10+ yards during the regular season with 67, but nearly half of those came from Daniels who finished with 28 runs within this context. Removing those would leave the Commanders with 39 runs of 10+ yards, placing them 28th out of 32 teams, per Next Gen Stats.

Brian Robinson Jr. led the running back room with 19 runs of 10+ yards, which was good for 25th out of all running backs in 2024. It's clear the Commanders were in need of a guy who can take one to the house at any moment. 

Commanders may have their explosive back in Jacory Croskey-Merritt

Hopefully you noticed the use of the word "were" in the last sentence, because they did go out and get a guy who has the ability to fix this issue in seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt.

JCM doesn't have elite, top-end speed, but what he does have is excellent burst and acceleration, as well as a killer jump cut that will come in handy when the Commanders' run game deploys its zone schemes or when he's navigating through defensive traffic.

If Croskey-Merritt can become the guy the Commanders envision, it would not only take a ton of pressure off Daniels, but it would elevate his game at the same time. Sure, he's certainly going to make big plays on the ground when it's called for, but knowing he has a guy in the backfield that can make big plays happen on the ground allows Daniels to focus more on making big plays through the air, which also helps the Commanders offense take a step forward in a roundabout way.

And, most importantly, the less Daniels runs, the less hits he takes, which should always be priority No. 1 when it comes to the Commanders offense.