2025 Fantasy Football Position Battles: Commanders RB Carousel

This week's Job Battles entry will look at the position battles between the Indianapolis quarterbacks, Washington running backs, San Francisco running backs, and the QB/RB competitions ongoing for the Saints depth chart.

Check out the industry-leading fantasy football live draft assistant to get custom rankings for your league and follow along with a live draft on most major platforms!

Daniel Jones over Anthony Richardson, QB, IND

|||||Read Jerry Donabedian's excellent breakdown (here) of this news to get the full picture. It addresses all angles.|||||

Shane Steichen named Daniel Jones the starting Indianapolis quarterback over Anthony Richardson, with Steichen declaring Jones will be the season-long starter with considerable leash.

We'll see. Jones was expected to 'win' this competition all along, but if Steichen sees greener pastures with Jones of all people starting then Steichen might be as delirious as he is desperate. 

Jones should have some amount of (volatile) fantasy utility given the substantial amount of from-scrimmage assistance around him in the Indianapolis offense, but if he gets himself benched and Steichen fired we'll need to do our best not to appear shocked by the news.

Chris Rodriguez vs. Jacory Croskey-Merritt vs. Jeremy McNichols vs. Brian Robinson, RB, WAS

It appears that Washington will cut or trade Brian Robinson, clearing room for a new starter. Subtracting Robinson would leave the 2024 offense with a void of 187 carries, 25 targets, and 473 running back snaps.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt has been relentlessly hyped as the potential new starter, despite there not being one indication that JCM is ahead of Chris Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Austin Ekeler remains locked in as a receiving specialist and the first running back off the bench, and even Jeremy McNichols plausibly offers more than JCM, especially as a receiver.

Croskey-Merritt runs hard, but that didn't help him average so much as 4.0 yards per carry in any of his four seasons at Alabama State. Can anyone name an NFL back who averaged under 4.0 yards per carry for four years in a row in the FCS? Didn't think so.

When JCM transferred to New Mexico he had basically three good games, accumulating 604 of his 1,190 rushing yards that year against Tennessee Tech, Fresno State and Utah State. In his other nine games JCM accumulated 586 yards at 4.7 yards per carry. New Mexico went 4-8.

Rodriguez, by contrast, rampaged at Kentucky, averaging 6.6 yards per carry through his first 37 games before 'only' running for 904 yards and six touchdowns at 5.2 yards per carry in his final eight games. McNichols was also extremely productive in college, posting legitimate Heisman-like numbers in his two seasons as starter at Boise State.

Rodriguez (5-11, 224) is much more powerful than JCM (5-10, 206), and when adjusting for weight JCM is only negligibly more athletic than Rodriguez. Rodriguez logged a 4.52-second pro day 40 at 217 pounds, which basically breaks even with JCM's 4.47 pro day 40 at 206. As a power back Rodriguez clearly outclasses JCM, and as a speed back Rodriguez isn't far behind JCM either.

Note: neither Rodriguez nor JCM have any history of catching passes. McNichols and Austin Ekeler very much do. Rodriguez and JCM are likely to function as rushing specialists, and if they're splitting that meager pie then they will both struggle to emerge as viable fantasy starters. This backfield is headed toward a committee, in my opinion.

Check out our fantasy football ADP report for a comprehensive tool with live-updated ADP data for multiple league formats and sites.

Nick Chubb vs. Dameon Pierce vs. Woody Marks, RB, HOU

Nick Chubb is presumably nowhere near the form he had before the catastrophic 2023 knee injury that derailed his career, but he's doing well enough in Houston's practices that he appears to be the favorite to start and serve as the lead pure runner if Joe Mixon (foot/ankle) is unable to play early in the season.

Chubb had recently split first-team reps with Dameon Pierce in training camp practices, yet Houston Chronicle beat writer Jonathan M. Alexander expects Chubb to serve as starter if Mixon is unavailable. Where that would leave Pierce, the former fourth-round pick with the excellent 2022 rookie season, is entirely unclear. It's possible Houston keeps Pierce to split work with Chubb, or it's possible that Houston trades Pierce to a team that could use him more for power depth.

What's clear otherwise is the fact that Woody Marks will likely serve as the primary hurryup/passing-down back if Mixon is out. The rookie fourth-round pick from USC was previously an Air Raid running back at Mississippi State, meaning he has already logged more passing-down reps at the college level than a lot of running backs will in their entire NFL careers.

Isaac Guerendo vs. Jeff Wilson vs. Jordan James, RB, SF

Isaac Guerendo might be the league's most injury-prone player, which is immensely frustrating given his otherwise substantial talents. Guerendo might be the most athletic running back in the NFL, yet we can't take him playing any particular amount of time for granted given his injury history. Hamstring issues in particular are a concern, but Guerendo just got back into practice Tuesday after missing multiple weeks with a shoulder injury.

If Guerendo can stay healthy for literally the first time ever in 2025 then he could be an enormous fantasy asset in the even that Christian McCaffrey were to miss any time. Unfortunately, for now the odds seem to indicate Guerendo will likely continue to catch various injuries.

If Guerendo can't stay on the field then Jeff Wilson appears to be the default fallback option. Wilson is one of the least athletic running backs in the NFL, but he's dependable and has for a long time had the trust of Kyle Shanahan.

The rookie fifth-round pick Jordan James more or less matched the production of Bucky Irving when the two played at Oregon, so if Shanahan were to utilize James at some point then the rookie could make a significant fantasy impact. In the meantime, though, it seems like he's more so locked in as the RB3 as a developmental understudy.

It might be time to call Wilson a draftable handcuff pick. Even if everyone understands Guerendo as the more talented player, there isn't much reason to think he'll be the available one in the event that opportunity arises. It's not necessarily a training camp battle between Guerendo and Wilson as much as a battle to stay healthy in the regular season.

Spencer Rattler vs. Tyler Shough, QB, NO

The Colts settled their dreary quarterback competition with helpful clarity, but the Saints have not yet offered any conclusions in the competition between Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough. It's not clear whether coach Kellen Moore knows his starter and is declining to inform the rest of us – he might honestly not know yet himself.

That Shough hasn't decisively outplayed Rattler is already an enormous embarrassment for the Saints front office, who burned the 40th selection on a player who can't beat out Rattler – a mediocre fifth-round pick from last year – even though Shough will turn 26 soon. Whichever of the two starts in Week 1 – for now Rattler is still the favorite – the Saints offense will likely struggle in 2025 and whoever begins the year as starter is far from guaranteed to finish the year as starter.

Kendre Miller vs. Cam Akers vs. Devin Neal, RB, NO

Devin Neal (hamstring) returned to practice Tuesday in a limited capacity, opening the possibility of a preseason appearance on Saturday. The sixth-round pick out of Kansas was a dynamite high-volume, high-efficiency workhorse in college, and while Neal's athletic testing as no better than average (4.58-second 40 at 213 pounds) it was also plenty sufficient to project NFL viability.

Kendre Miller is probably more athletically talented than Neal, and the Saints selected him in the third round of the 2023 draft in hopes of finding a high-upside heir to Alvin Kamara's starting role. Through two years Miller has not realized his potential, be it because of durability troubles or whatever else, but in the 2025 training camp he has mostly been healthy. The reviews have not been sterling exactly, but merely being healthy makes Miller the de facto favorite to serve as RB2 behind Kamara to open the year.

If Miller continues to underachieve, though, then a healthy Neal could be the type to apply pressure for playing time. Given his history, there's reason to believe Neal will produce if given an opportunity. The more Neal practices, in other words, the more urgent it is for Miller to step up and decisively earn the RB2 role.

If Miller disappoints sufficiently and Neal continues to struggle with his hamstring then the Saints might turn to either of Cam Akers or Clyde Edwards-Helaire as the RB2, even if they're cutting them and calling them up from the practice squad every single week. It seems like the Saints want Miller or Neal to win this competition yet are prepared to give regular season snaps to Akers or/and CEH if the prospects fail to meet Kellen Moore's standards.

Dominate your fantasy football league this season by exploring our comprehensive draft kit. Packed with expert insights, rankings and strategy tips, the kit features our interactive mock draft simulator to prepare you for every scenario. Streamline your draft-day decisions using our printable cheat sheet and stay ahead of the competition with our up-to-date rankings for all formats. RotoWire has everything you need to win. To learn more, subscribe now and start optimizing your roster today!