The Commanders didn’t have many running backs available during Friday night’s preseason game against Miami.
Bill Croskey-Merritt and Rachaad White weren’t active, along with 26 others, to avoid unnecessary injury risk. Jeremy McNichols is dealing with a reported quadriceps issue.
Jerome Ford was up but the Commanders chose to limit his exposure during the game.
That left rookies Robert Henry Jr. and Kaytron Allen to do some dirty work. They seemed to enjoy it, rushing for a combined 160 rushing yards
and two touchdowns on 35 carries in the 20-7 win.
Most production came against Miami’s lower defensive tiers, but that shouldn’t discount what was done in the run game by two relatively unheralded prospects.
Allen’s a sixth-round pick. Henry’s an undrafted free agent. Both guys shined using different styles.
Henry’s a patient runner who will slash through space. Allen’s plan to at you and then through you, with some elusiveness when required.
Both guys looked worthy of the carries they got, and impressed head coach Dan Quinn with the quality work done over the course of the game.
“He and Kaytron had a nice night,” head coach Dan Quinn said in his postgame press conference. “Also Jerome Ford went out. We had three backs for the game, and when Jerome was out there was no flinch with these guys, playing on (special teams) and returning. I felt the outside stuff with Rob.
“It was great to see both of these guys go. Kaytron finished the game with a first down and had the touchdown towards the end. Those are the physical-style runs we expect from him.”
Henry jump started the offense with an 11-yard run to start Washington’s second series, which ended in a field goal He kept that good vibe going on the next Commanders draft, with a 15-yard gain around the right end. That set up this beauty, a 22-yard touchdown run that put Washington ahead for good
Henry was super efficient, averaged 6.3 yards per carry in this one. He was also inspirational to Allen.
Allen had more carries and less efficiency, but made his mark with violence. That was clear on his touchdown run eight seconds from halftime, when he crossed the goal line and then kicked the door down.
Per Sharp Football Analysis, Allen’s the only running back in the last decade to have 20-plus carries in the preseason without a run for negative yards.
It was good to see Allen in a live tackling situation, too, so Washington could get a better grasp of how he can break or elude tackles.
“He’s a bigger back so, in practice you wonder, ‘Would he have gotten stopped there? Could it have been more?’” Quinn said. “There was a similar situation with (quarterback Jayden Daniels), where you wonder if he would’ve been sacked or not, and he would not have been. There’s a little bit of that with Kaytron. Would he be able to get yards after the hit? We were anxious to see what that looked like after the contact.”
The Commanders have a competitive running back room, with Croskey-Merritt and White earmarked for a high carry count. More games like this from Allen and Henry could make for a deep room and tough roster choices, especially with McNichols and Ford also in the mix.
There’s plenty of work remaining over the course of this preseason, but Allen and Henry have given Commanders coaches plenty to think about as the decide how to work out the running back room.
“I like the backs,” Quinn said. “They’re in shape. They’re focused. They’re ready. When they came out and were a little short-handed, there was no flinch. That was a good sign to me.”
