Who Should I Start? Bucky Irving or Jacory Croskey-Merritt

Wednesday, November 5, 2:29 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving (shoulder) has progressed enough in his recovery to begin running. Despite the progression, Irving is still not ready to take contact on his injured shoulder. Irving has been sidelined since suffering the injury in Week 4. Rachaad White remains the lead back as Irving recovers, with Sean Tucker serving as the change-of-pace option. White should remain on the bench heading into a brutal Week 10 matchup with a Patriots defense that is allowing just 75.4 rushing yards per game.

Wednesday, November 5, 6:39 PM

Washington Commanders rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt (mouth) was wearing a non-contact jersey on Wednesday and was listed as a limited practice participant after having dental work done, according to John Keim of ESPN. Croskey-Merritt should be available to play on Sunday against the visiting Detroit Lions, but the better question is whether he'll lose any playing time to Jeremy McNichols and Chris Rodriguez Jr. after stumbling the last few weeks. The 24-year-old seventh-rounder has been the team's lead back since Austin Ekeler suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 2, but Bill hasn't scored since Oct. 5 and is averaging just 3.1 yards per carry for 157 yards on 51 rushing attempts in the last four games. Expect defenses to load the box more to stop the run against Washington now, with quarterback Jayden Daniels (elbow) out for the foreseeable future. JCM is trending down as an RB3/flex play heading into this weekend.