Most of the Washington Commanders tagged for breakout seasons this year have fizzled. But there is one player who has been lurking below the surface for a while now who could be on the verge of a genuine breakout.
He was not on anyone’s list before the season. In fact, one of his younger teammates was the one getting most of the hype.
Now, with six games remaining for Washington to salvage some positivity from the campaign, it seems like the pendulum has shifted.
Chris Rodriguez Jr. could be ready to take charge in the Commanders’ backfield
This was supposed to be the year of Jacory Croskey-Merritt. The seventh-round rookie wowed everyone throughout training camp and preseason. His emergence was the primary reason general manager Adam Peters dealt away last year’s starter, Brian Robinson Jr., to the San Francisco 49ers before the season.
Third-year back Chris Rodriguez Jr. has been viewed as a Robinson clone. Powerful but not explosive. Kliff Kingsbury seems to prefer runners who can make lightning cuts, make defenders miss, and break big plays. The Kentucky product has been viewed as more of a straight-ahead power back.
Croskey-Merritt began the year backing up veteran Austin Ekeler, with reliable all-purpose veteran Jeremy McNichols rounding out the running back room. Rodriguez was essentially an afterthought, being a healthy scratch over the opening games.
That has been Rodriguez’s position ever since arriving in the sixth round of the 2023 draft. He had bounced up and down from the practice squad to the main roster, and that looked to be his destiny at the beginning of 2025.
But Rodriguez has proven to be very resilient.
Ekeler was hurt early this season. Croskey-Merritt started well but then hit a wall. McNichols has remained a steady jack-of-all-trades, but has never been viewed as a high-volume runner.
Rodriguez started a couple of games immediately after Ekeler’s injury early and performed relatively well. He was particularly effective in the Week 4 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, picking up 59 rushing yards on just seven carries. By that point, the coaching staff seemed entirely enamored with Croskey-Merritt. The third-year pro got just nine carries over the next four weeks, often in mop-up time.
However, when Croskey-Merritt struggled, Rodriguez got another chance. Over the last three weeks, he has totaled 33 carries and gained 160 rushing yards at 4.8 yards per carry. He has also added a couple of touchdowns.
Head coach Dan Quinn has not said anything definitively, but it appears that, at least for now, Rodriguez is the Commanders’ starting running back. It’s up to him to keep it.
If Washington gets some of its weapons back in the coming weeks — Terry McLaurin, Noah Brown, and especially Jayden Daniels — that should open the offense even more for a powerful downhill back like Rodriguez.
The Commanders still value Croskey-Merritt, but in the final games of 2025, Rodriguez might prove he is an equally valuable part of Washington’s offense in the future.
