{"id":214865,"date":"2025-02-05T10:49:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T15:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=214865"},"modified":"2025-02-05T10:49:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T15:49:20","slug":"2025-nfl-draft-scouting-report-jacory-croskey-merritt-arizona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/05\/2025-nfl-draft-scouting-report-jacory-croskey-merritt-arizona\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Arizona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jacory Croskey-Merritt was a star at New Mexico, played in just one game in 2024 at Arizona because of eligibility issues, and has been lighting up the pre-draft process. Here is a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/03\/biggest-offensive-senior-bowl-risers-among-nfl-draft-prospects\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2025 NFL Draft<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/01\/26\/2025-nfl-draft-scouting-report-chimere-dike-florida\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scouting Report <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and film analysis on him.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Overview, Film Analysis, And 2025 Scouting Report Of <\/b><b>Arizona RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Measurables:<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5\u201910\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">206 lbs<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Player Background:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lanier HS graduate committed to Alabama State in the 2019 class, attending the Hornets as <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/player\/jacory-croskey-merritt-46058685\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">an unranked recruit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. He saw brief action his freshman year, playing in eight total games. In said games, he ran the ball 72 times for 186 yards and two scores with six grabs for 98 yards as a receiver. His role stayed similarly limited during the shortened 2020 season, with 17 carries for 65 yards and a score in five games.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He saw time in 10 games in 2021, totaling over 500 yards and six touchdowns. Croskey-Merritt\u2019s 2022 campaign continued on the same level, with slightly over 600 total yards and four rushing TDs. He transferred to New Mexico in 2023 and was a massive breakout story. He ran for almost 1,200 yards and scored 18 times in 12 games and was one of the best backs in the Group of Five. After leaving again for Arizona, he ran for 106 yards and a touchdown in 2024\u2019s opening week before eligibility issues from his freshman season shut him down for the rest of his career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Accolades:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Honorable Mention All-American (2023)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Second Team All-Mountain West (2023)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Strengths\/Pros:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Croskey-Merritt\u2019s first step is incredible and he accelerates well through the handoff, hitting early holes and limiting negative gains. He\u2019s patient when the line of scrimmage when holes get blocked up and his footwork is good enough to slide through smaller gaps. When he gets to the holes he flashes some sharp jumpcuts to get to the second level with ease. His lateral acceleration is fantastic when planting hard, evading downhill defenders, and working outside well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He\u2019s a major home run threat when he gets into space and is an incredibly creative runner when he\u2019s downfield in space. Croskey-Merritt\u2019s feet are very decisive, rarely getting choppy and sinking into his hips well to drive forward. His awareness of gaps opening is adequate and his vision at the line is solid. He drives vertically as a route runner and his hands and catch transitions are smooth. He shows good effort as a pass protector and extends his hands well to get early contact.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Weaknesses\/Cons:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Croskey-Merritt\u2019s second-level vision is too inconsistent. At times, he cuts toward crowds instead of gaining easy yards in front of him. He gets a bit stiff as a runner and lacks the body fluidity of many high-level backs. His weight has fluctuated a bit in an attempt to become more physical, but he has struggled with movement skills when gaining muscle. He\u2019s not thick or strong enough to be a reliable power rusher and has to rely mainly on working in space.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His feet do get a bit clunky when getting to the second level and he needs to improve his compact movements in space. Croskey-Merritt needs to know when he\u2019s beaten in the backfield, trying to create too much on broken plays. His awareness as a pass blocker is an issue, especially on rushers around the edge. He also takes some ill-advised blocking chances and fails to sustain some blocks.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Potential Team Fits:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/bears\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chicago Bears<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/raiders\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Las Vegas Raiders<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/patriots\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New England Patriots<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>NFL Projection:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evaluating Croskey-Merritt as a prospect is interesting, considering he\u2019s rarely played since his 2023 campaign. With that being said, he\u2019s an electrifying back who\u2019s seen his stock explode in the pre-draft process. He\u2019s going to be somewhat of a dart throw with the mysteries surrounding his current profile, but the highs he\u2019s put on tape are very desirable. He could work himself into an RB1 role in the right system and has the complete play style to at least be an effective RB2.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Prospect Grade:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Early 4th Round<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Film Exposures:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2024 vs. New Mexico<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2024 vs. Texas A&amp;M<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2024 vs. Fresno State<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BONUS: 2024 Shrine Bowl<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Main Photo: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview And Film Analysis Of 2025 NFL Draft Prospect And Arizona RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt, One Of The Draft\u2019s More Intriguing Stories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5364,"featured_media":214942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647],"tags":[32605,33282,33203,33283,27083],"class_list":["post-214865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","tag-2025-nfl-draft","tag-arizona-football","tag-arizona-wildcats","tag-jacory-croskey-merritt","tag-scouting-report"],"modified_by":"Will Koshover, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5364"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214865"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214943,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214865\/revisions\/214943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}