The Washington Commanders were thrown a curveball right before their Week 17 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday.
That curveball comes in the form of running back Chris Rodriguez, who was added to the team's injury report with an illness, leaving him questionable to play.
As we wait for confirmation on Rodriguez's status before kickoff with Dallas, let's take a look at some start or sit advice for fellow running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who will start in the event that Rodriguez sits out.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt start or sit advice
Croskey-Merritt will take over lead back duties if Rodriguez doesn't play, but that's not enough to immediately insert him into lineups.
Over his five starts in the middle of the season, Croskey-Merritt ranked as RB35 overall in terms of fantasy points per game, so he didn't do much with lead-back duties before being replaced by Rodriguez as the starter.
The Cowboys do present a favorable matchup, with Dallas ceding the seventh-most fantasy points per game to running backs this season.
But the Commanders' offense will be limited thanks to injuries to Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota, which has Washington starting Josh Johnson, who is a downgrade from both players.
That is going to impact Croskey-Merritt's scoring opportunities while also allowing the Cowboys to sell out to stop the run thanks to the lack of a threat from the Commanders' passing attack.
There are just too many negatives here to start Croskey-Merritt, even if Rodriguez doesn't play.
Verdict: Sit
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