Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt arrived at spring camp with noticeable bulk after head coach Dan Quinn tasked the second-year back with scaling his 1.4-percent college target share to become a factor in the passing game. Despite registering a 26.6-percent Juke Rate (No. 7) and an impressive 106.1 Explosive Play Rating (No. 15) last season, he remains in the RB4 tier while the Washington coaching staff works him back from a soft-tissue injury.
Former Buccaneers running back Rachaad White is well-positioned to be Washington’s satellite back in what is shaping up to be a fluid backfield committee. Bill looks like the quintessential PPR value trap as Jayden Daniels will siphon away touchdowns while White hogs the targets.
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Rachaad White is impressing the Washington coaching staff this offseason, positioning himself to command the passing-down role thanks to his elite receiving metrics on PlayerProfiler. He faces a backfield matrix that includes rookie Kaytron Allen, who boasts a 30.9-percent College Dominator Rating, and an injured Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
Signed for just $2 million this offseason, White is shaping up to be one of the best free agent signings of 2026. If White continues to outwork the depth chart in training camp, his established receiving profile gives him the RB1 edge in Washington. Given his weekly volatility as a pass catching specialist, White is most attractive in fantasy football best ball formats.
The Washington Commanders’ coaching staff sees lead-back potential in Jacory Croskey-Merritt, provided the sophomore can elevate his sparse 3.0-percent Target Share from last season. Running backs coach Anthony Lynn believes the second-year back has high-volume playmaking ability.
Rachaad White, Jeremy McNichols, and Jerome Ford are taking most of Washington’s RB reps while Kaytron Allen gets up to speed. Regardless of whether Croskey-Merritt is called upon in passing situations, as long as he successfully secures the early-down duties over Allen, “Bill” (Croskey-Merritt) will unlock a high TD equity role. Bill will continue to lose sleeper steam in both fantasy football seasonal and dynasty league formats until he returns to practice.
The Buccaneers seem to be one step forward and one step back when it comes to injuries. With Mike Evans and Chris Godwin swapping places on the injury report, star running back Bucky Irving was seen in a walking boot.
The obvious person to benefit will be backup Rachaad White who has experience as a starting running back. A not so obvious fantasy addition is Sean Tucker. Tucker was the RB1 overall last season in Week 6 versus the Saints with 34.2 fantasy points on 192 total yards and 2 touchdowns.
While Tucker is an alluring name, he has had less than 1% of the teams opportunity share thus far to White’s 26%. As a starter in 2023, White was the RB10 in fantasy points per game with 15.8 in 17 games played. White can immediately be plugged in to play while Tucker presents upside with no guarantee he’ll get significant action in Week 5. As this could be a multi-week absence for Irving, both White and Tucker are must roster players.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
Rachaad White exited the Buccaneers August 9th preseason game against the Titans due to a groin injury, having rushed six times for 28 yards before being ruled out for the remainder of the matchup. Head coach Todd Bowles confirmed that White will undergo further testing to assess the severity of the injury.
White could remain valuable given his reliability as a pass-catcher, but his availability in the lead-up to Week 1 is uncertain. This injury opens a window for Sean Tucker, whose efficiency last season (6.2 yards per carry on limited attempts) makes him a candidate to carve out a more prominent role.
Irving was already going in the second or third round and the White injury makes this a safer bet. The more interesting angle is Tucker, he’s been going in the late rounds or undrafted but he might start to climb draft boards now.
Author: David Leonard (@RealDelcoDave)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles spoke to the media on Tuesday and was asked about the running back hierarchy. Bowles made it clear that while it is a committee situation, he did not mince words while mentioning the second-year running back Bucky Irving’s name first.
“Bucky (Irving) will be the guy coming in. Rachaad (White) will play a ton, too. Depending on how the game goes is how you rotate and use them… I think we gotta get Sean (Tucker) in there a little bit more, as well, because he’s a heck of a runner for us and we gotta play him a lot more than we played him in the past.”
In 2024, Irving amassed 1,514 yards from scrimmage with eight touchdowns to his credit. White totaled 1,006 yards with nine TDs and Tucker 413/3.
Bowles has mentioned an increased workload for Tucker in the past, which never really came to fruition for the Bucs. While the 1-2 backs are must-roster players in the high-power Tampa Bay offense, the changing of the guard seems complete since Irving became the go-to back by the midway point of last year.
Author: Sam Schneider (@BuyAndSellYou)
