The Washington Commanders decided they didn’t need their best running back thanks to a convincing training camp and preseason run from rookie Jacorey “Bill” Croskey-Merritt and traded Brian Robinson Jr. to the San Francisco 49ers for a much needed draft pick.
The problem? If Croskey-Merritt isn’t what they think he is, then an offensive weakness from a year ago just got even weaker.
On the flip side of that, the Commanders may have also gift-wrapped the 49ers the one player who can make sure their Super Bowl window stays open for at least one more season.
With Robinson in the fold, the 49ers can ease the burden put on starting running back and former NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey where needed. McCaffrey played just 4 games in 2024 and didn’t score a single touchdown as injuries decimated his year.
“When Christian goes out … now you know you got a guy coming in there that you shouldn’t miss a beat on,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told San Francisco’s KNBR 104.5 FM. “With (Robinson) you have a guy who I think is a starting running back in this league and when you pair him with Christian, that goes a long way.”
Pro: Getting Rid of Robinson Was Smart Move
Robinson had every chance to show out in 2024 as the Commanders went 12-5 and made the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991 as the team’s featured back.
Instead, Robinson failed to set himself apart and finished with 958 yards of total offense and 8 total touchdowns but missed 3 games due to injuries.
When the Commanders did the math and figured out that the combination of Croskey-Merritt, veteran Austin Ekeler and backups Chris Rodriguez and Jeremy McNichols, getting any kind of value back for Robinson became the smartest move.
Robinson had 1,101 yards of total offense and 9 touchdowns in 2023 and was projected to possibly land big bucks in either the form of a contract extension or free agency before the 2024 season.
Now, Robinson finds himself in a “prove it” year where he’s playing for, hopefully, a 1-year contract to become a starter for another team in 2026 as he’s in the final season of the 4-year, $5.04 million rookie contract he signed in 2022.
Con: Getting Rid of Robinson Was Dumb Move
The other side of the argument was that the Commanders made a dumb move getting rid of their best running back before the start of a season in which they’re legitimate Super Bowl contenders for the first time in a generation.
Those problems don’t begin with Croskey-Merritt, who is having a tremendous amount of faith put into him as a 2025 seventh round pick (No. 245 overall) who only played one game for Arizona in 2024 until he was sidelined over an eligibility issue.
The real problems begin with the player listed as the starter right now in Ekeler, who was an NFL All-Pro return specialist in his first season with the Commanders in 2024. Ekeler, like Robinson, dealt with injury issues last season — he suffered 2 scary concussions during the regular season that cost him a total of 5 games.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Former Commanders RB Called ‘Key to Super Bowl’ in NFC West appeared first on Heavy Sports.