The Commanders run game is a quandary.
The commitment to it is fine. Offensive coordinator David Blough continues to call for runs at an appropriate rate. The numbers look just sort of okay.
We aren’t talking about a nuclear winter, here. We’re just making folks aware that the bedrock of this offensive system isn’t hitting on all cylinders. The bottom line stats can also be skewed by mobile quarterbacks.
Here’s what we’re trying to get to, in this long introduction. The curious case of Jacory Croskey-Merritt,
who is averaging less than four yards per carry over four games. That number dropped to less than two over the last two games, with Rachaad White unavailable on Sunday against the Colts.
The prevailing theory was that Croskey-Merritt would fit well with Blough’s rushing scheme, which is predicated on outside zone runs. That hasn’t been the case to this point.
Look, I’ll just put this out there. I’m not a “tape guy” and I’m not going to pretend to be one. We have Mark Tyler and Jamual Forrest and John Portis for that stuff. But I have been around the game for a super long time and can analyze the numbers and the advanced metrics. And, frankly, I know a good player when I see one. I covered LaDainian Tomlinson for goodness sakes, so I have a gold standard. It also doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the Commanders aren’t efficient running the football at important times.
Nor is their lead back.
Croskey-Merritt’s explosiveness might be his best feature, as we saw several times last year. So is his decisiveness and burst into the second level. Outside a play negated by penalty, we haven’t seen that this season.
He’s still in prove-it mode, considering it’s just his second season. But…the fact we saw Rachaad White average 4.4 yards per carry vs. Seattle to Croskey-Merritt’s 1.9 isn’t great. Neither is the fact that Austin Ekeler has now joined the roster, and was efficient with his opportunities.
Is it the back or is it the system or the line and the operation? Evaluate that in the article comments below. But it’s fair to wonder how long the Commanders stick with Croskey-Merritt and whether this is a temporary issue or a major cause for concern. I bring this all up for a discussion point, as the Commanders head into a now vital Week 5 contest with the New York Giants.
Is it time to pivot higher carry counts towards Ekeler or White? Or am I overreacting? Let’s discuss.
