The Washington Commanders added to their running back depth in the wake of Austin Ekeler’s catastrophic injury.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Washington signed veteran RB Chase Edmonds to its practice squad Monday.
Ekeler, of course, is out for the season after he tore his Achilles tendon in the fourth quarter of Washington’s 27-18 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Thursday night.
He was the No. 1 running back on the Commanders depth chart, ahead of Jeremy McNichols, Chris Rodriguez Jr and rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
Washington (1-1) will host the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Northwest Stadium.
Who Is Chase Edmonds?
Edmonds, like Ekeler, is a true dual-purpose back. The fourth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals out of Fordham University never has rushed more than 116 times in a single season.
Edmonds’ best seasons came as a member of the Cardinals, where he posted back-to-back 150-plus-touch, 850-plus-all-purpose-yard seasons in 2020 and 2021.
Edmonds last played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2023 season. But you could be excused if you didn’t recall his 13-game tenure where he accounted for 257 all-purpose yards and mostly played special teams.
In 83 career NFL games with the Cardinals, Buccaneers, Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins, Edmonds has 1,972 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns while also adding 1,159 receiving yards and six touchdown catches.
Who Is Going To Be The Commanders RB1 With Austin Ekeler Out?
Ekeler likely was never meant to be to be Washington’s top running back, since he has long been primarily used as a third-down back.
Still, Ekeler’s loss will be felt in the Commanders facility.
“That will be significant,” Washington coach Dan Quinn said after Thursday night’s loss about the potential season-ending loss of Ekeler. “He provides a lot of unique things for us.”
“He’s one of the great leaders on this team,” Croskey-Merritt said of Ekeler. “I learn a lot from him, so it’s definitely tough.”
But NFL is a next-man-up sport, and with Ekeler now out after sustaining a non-contact injury, Croskey-Merritt’s stock is rising.
The RB, affectionately referred to as “Bill,” was always likely to get first-team reps later in the year — even though he was behind Rodriguez and McNichols on the team’s unofficial depth chart — but his time appears to be now.
Though he has not shown any capabilities in the passing game yet — Croskey-Merritt has not yet reeled in a catch on either of his two targets from quarterback Jayden Daniels — the 5-11, 208-pound back has shown his rushing prowess. He has 99 yards on just 14 attempts, averaging an eye-popping 7.1 yards per carry and scoring one touchdown.
Croskey-Merritt only merited four carries on Thursday night against Green Bay. But he still shared the Commanders‘ team lead in rushing yards (17) and led them in yards per carry (4.3).
Washington was behind the game script just about the entire game — the Commanders fell behind 14-0, which is why they had more than twice as many pass attempts (42) as rushing attempts Thursday night.
Still, only Ekeler, Daniels and Croskey-Merritt received carries Thursday. So between that fact, and that Edmonds is pushing 30, the Commanders‘ bell-cow back is pretty well established with Ekeler out.
Commanders Sign Veteran Running Back After Austin Ekeler Injury