Who Should I Start? Kyren Williams or Jacory Croskey-Merritt

Saturday, December 6, 9:50 AM

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams remains the primary option out of the team's backfield, but his floor has declined with the emergence of Blake Corum. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur recently noted that allowing Corum to spell Williams more often has allowed the latter running back to stay fresh over the course of the whole season, and that trend should continue as the playoffs get closer. Managers shouldn't be surprised to see Williams finish with around 15 touches per game while Corum handles roughly seven to 10. With that said, Williams does remain a low-end RB1 in fantasy football, largely due to his ability to catch passes and score touchdowns. He has 24 receptions and 10 trips to the end zone so far in 2025. That bodes well for his outlook in Week 14 against the Arizona Cardinals, who have allowed the 10th-most fantasy points and second-most receiving touchdowns to opposing running backs in 2025. While Williams is no longer the high-end RB1 that managers consistently depended on when he was handling north of 20 carries per game, he's still a top-12 fantasy running back for the rest of the season. Specifically, he ranks as the overall RB10 in RotoBaller's fantasy rankings for Week 14.

Friday, December 5, 7:45 PM

Washington Commanders rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt was a trendy late-round upside pick in fantasy drafts in the fall, with Washington's backfield plans unsettled. He became even more popular off the waiver wire early in the season after Austin Ekeler suffered a season-ending Achilles tear. The 24-year-old seventh-rounder out of Arizona had double-digit rushing attempts in five of six games from Weeks 5-10, accumulating 298 yards and two touchdowns on 76 carries (3.9 yards per attempt). Bill has since fallen out of favor and has lost lead-back duties to Chris Rodriguez Jr. In the Sunday night overtime loss to the Denver Broncos, Croskey-Merritt played a season-low 14% of the snaps and had a season-low four carries for only 20 yards. He was also out-snapped by pass-catching back Jeremy McNichols. JCM is still rostered in just under 50% of Yahoo leagues, but in a three-back committee in Washington, he should be on benches entering Sunday's road matchup against Minnesota.