FEATURE BACK: Why the Commanders Must SIGN Rachaad White & Chris Rodriguez Jr. for 2026 Dominance

0:00It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Not every sale happens at the register. Before AT&T Business Wireless, checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sale at two. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time. Sometimes. AT&T Business Wireless, connecting changes everything. Edible Arrangeous Effortless Joy-All-Year With same day in next day delivery or local pickup, Edible makes gifting simple, fresh arrangements, dessert boards, and big treats for birthdays, thank yous, or just because. Order at edible.com or your local store. Shakory Krosky Merrick carried the ball over 150 times in 2025 proving that he can be

1:02a featured part of an NFL offense, but he can't do it alone. You are Lockdown Commanders, your daily podcast on the Washington Commanders. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This is Lockdown Commanders, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. I am David Harrison, your guy on the ground, covering the Washington Commanders, credential member of the media for WSA 9, you also find me writing on commanders on SI, four commanders on SI. Here with you five days a week and coming up on today's episode, some corrections to make with Conor McGovern returning to the Buffalo Bills over the weekend. And if you want to get explosive, you got to be willing to spend. But first, the commanders want to get better on the ground in 2026, but right now they only have one running back on the roster, all of that coming up on today's episode of Lockdown Commanders. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. And right now, Cory Crosky Merrick is a one man room.

2:04He is the only running back on the 2026 roster for the Washington Merrick at the time of this recording. And I say it that way because guys news can break at any moment while I'm recording, while I'm editing, while I'm publishing, while this episode is premiering, news can break. So as we're talking right now, Cory Crosky Merrick on an island, he's earned the right I think to be a major part of the offense, but he can't do it alone. Today's NFL by and large is not really designed for running backs to do alone anyway. But Monday, when free agency begins, is the day that Adam Peters has to unveil to everybody is his plan to address the running back room with potentially the number seven overall pick. Or is it to solve that riddle with free agency Kenneth Walker, Tyler Algier, some names to keep an eye on to give Jayden Daniels the help he needs in free agency. Get him in the room for the offseason program to Cory Crosky Merrick Bill, as we call him, of course, massive bright spot in 2025, seventh round pick ends up with 175 carries 805 rushing yards, 4.6 yards per carry average eight touchdown carries absolute stud,

3:08especially for a seventh round or just absolutely a nailed pick for general manager, Adam Peters, who gets a lot of criticism first pick. So let's give him some praise when a seventh round ever comes the type of back that you Cory Crosky Merrick was. So while he provided or while he proved that he can be a feature part of an offense, the question still kind of comes out there. Is he a number one running back? Is he the primary back? And even if he can be the primary back in the future, is he today and I think that when we go off of the operate off of what you know, now what you hope, we don't know that Cory Crosky Merrick will be a number one three down type of running back in 2026, right? We don't know that. So you have to operate if you're Adam Peters, off of that information and that means that Adam Peters needs to go out there and find those complimentary players to fill out that room. Go find that lung thunder as it were to Bill's lightning, find a reliable pass protecting third down back for quarterback, Jane Daniels and bring back Chris Rodriguez Jr.

4:09The deadline to tender Chris Rodriguez Jr. Restricted free agent tender to Chris Rodriguez Jr. is the start of the newly year. So it's not Monday by noon. It is the start of the newly year. So if we don't have news on the decision by the wash smears to tender or not tender Chris Rodriguez by noon Monday, it's actually not the deadline doesn't actually mean that he's not coming back. It just means for whatever reason they haven't necessarily made the decision. What I'm going to take it as is they're either working on a longer term deal. The tender is only a one year deal. Maybe they're working on a two year deal or a three year deal behind the scenes or they are working on a deal with another player that they feel like if we bring this guy in, that gives us no that basically eliminates the reason to bring Chris in. We don't want to just drag him around for no reason for another year. So let's wait and see if we get this guy. If we do get this guy, maybe that's Tyler Algier, then we let Chris go and free agency let him go find a new home to continue his career. There's a lot of different avenues of what they could have already made a decision on what they're going to do, but what they don't want to do is let other GMs because again,

5:12if you don't have a Chris Rodriguez on your roster, then you need that kind of powerful type of back. So a guy like Tyler Algier, other GMs might think like, hey, maybe the commanders are going to go after Tyler, maybe they're not things like that. So there's a lot of different what ifs to handle there, but just understand as of right now, no movement on that. And again, that's at the time of the recording, but the wash commanders again could decide that they want to target or running back in the NFL draft. Here am I love very popular pick at number seven, the RV one of the 2026 NFL class home runs or a draft class home run speed 43640 at the NFL Scouting Combine this year, a lot of people or some people at least have called him the best running back entering the NFL since sake one, Barclay, we know, sake one has done a lot of good things in the NFC East. Unfortunately, a lot of them against the Washington commanders, average 6.9 yards per carry in 2025 did love. He's pretty well known for past protection, zero snacks, snacks allowed in 120 career snaps. So very good player, but the problem is, if you are going after Jeremiah, my love in number seven, that means you're probably not going very hard at the running back position

6:15in free agency. Well, so let's say the situation is the wash commanders bring back Chris Roderick as junior on that restricted for agent tender, they have to Cory Croskey merit. And they pretty much just do that. And every GM in the NFL knows a come April, wash commanders probably want Jeremiah love. So that's a little bit of a risky move as well. So there's a little bit of in between there as well. So let's look at a free agent table. And I think that when you look at who is of the guys available, who is the most three down back? Who is the guy that you can put on the field first through third now and even fourth down? If you need to, that guy is Travis ET on 27 years old, five foot 10, 215 pounds, he's explosive coming off of a pro bowl season where he had 100 or 1,485 yards from scrimmage, 11 touchdowns. He's a home run hitter who doesn't need a perfect lane because he knows how to navigate and knows how to find some things. And in that under center type of adjustment, ETN's ability to win to the edge on toss plays on stretch plays, those things like that are nightmares for slower linebackers who also

7:17have to wonder is he going to play action come through the middle for a release as a receiver and all these other things. So Travis ETN really is that kind of that type of back in this class would cost about 13 million dollars annual average value. That's not what his cap hit would be in 2026, but annual average value. That's what the market says he's going to get. So if Peter does this, then you have a guy like Travis ETN, you've got a guy like Jquery Croskey Merit who isn't as much change of pace at this point in time, but more so just continuing the pace and keeping each other fresh and just continuously bringing speed against the opposing defense, then you've got another another interesting person, that person out there free agent out there, like Rashad White, you've got Tyler Algier, and of course you've got the Super Bowl MVP, Kenneth Walker and others that we're going to discuss coming up next on today's episode of Locked On Commanders part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day. And this episode of Locked On Commanders brought to you in part by game time we live in a world

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10:25Shoes, fresh arrangements, dessert boards and baked treats that arrive ready to gift. Perfect for birthdays, thank yous, anniversaries or just because moments. Let Edible arrange the details so you can focus on celebrating the people who matter. Order online at edible.com or visit your local store to learn more. Rolling through here in the next episode of our free agency primer as we all build up to Monday at noon when all the madness is going to begin. Looking at the running back position here in this episode or shot white is the next end that we're going to talk about because your quarry cross-gamerat needs teammates right right now. If there's a running back meeting, it's Anthony Lynn and it's your quarry cross-gamerat and it's nobody else could be travesty. It could be Jeremiah love in April, but again, the trick for Adam Peters is to maintain that optionality. So who you go get absolutely matters or shot white is someone that we know, basically as soon as the luck in your season was over, he started tweeting out about how much you wanted to rejoin Jayden Daniels, the two airs on the state.

11:28Some double team mates together. He wants to rejoin him here in Washington, come play for him, come play with him. But again, it takes two to tango. The Washington commanders, David Blow, they got to be able to see this thing the way that Jayden sees it. Now we've heard a lot of how everything the Washington commanders do has Jayden Daniels in mind. If that's the case, Jayden probably wants to play with Rashad. He probably wants to play with Brandon IU, so it makes a lot of sense for both those guys to be inbound, but I don't want to put the card before the horse. So who is Rashad white, 27 years old, six foot tall, widely considered the best receiving back in the NFL, not named Christian McCafferring. That's pretty high praise for someone considering some of the guys that are in this league right now. But Rashad white, if he's not the best, he's definitely one of the best. And if he wasn't playing Tampa, he would probably have a better reputation, let all running backs in receptions last year, receiving yards last year, definitely played a very, very big role in that Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense. And again, for a young quarterback, you can get bailed out with the check down, do all those things. And you know that he trusts him, right?

12:29His turn or check down pass into a 15 yard gain. Rashad white can't actually run the ball a little bit as well. I'm not going to sit there and tell you he's like the best runner in the world, but there is at least a little bit of an element to where you can kind of counterbalance those things. So a room of Rashad white, jacory, cross-gamer, and then potentially Chris Rodriguez Jr. certainly makes a lot of sense. Rashad is probably going to cost you about 10 to $11 million annual average value and allows you again, you can motion them out of the back field, you can motion them into the back field, you can do a lot of different things. Staying in the NFC South, the veteran hammer, the Chris Rodriguez replacement. If you want to call it that Tyler Algier, if you don't keep Chris Rodriguez, Tyler Algier is the bruiser. That's what he did for the Falcons along with Bijan Robinson, top for agent target for any team that needs that thunder, right? We just talked about that earlier in the episode, that thunder to compliment the lightning. If you don't bring that back in Chris Rodriguez, Tyler Algier is absolutely a guy you could do that. With that, you could potentially come into a room with Tyler Algier, and jacory, cross-gamer it.

13:30And maybe that allows you to target your, my love, in the NFL draft. Algier is a late game hammer for the Atlanta Falcons. He thrives in yards after contact really good there. David Blatt wants to be violent. He wants to establish the ground game. He wants to do all these things, short yard is goal line again personally. I still think Chris Rodriguez is the guy. I still think Chris Rodriguez just needs the more opportunities to show that he can be that guy. And more of them last year. And I think he did well with all of them, just like jacory, cross-gamer did. So I would like to see the team roll back with both of those guys and probably bring in a free agent because again, you can't roll into April with just Bill and Chris on your roster. Everybody's going to know you're trying to go after Jeremiah Love, and there's pretty much no chance they're going to let you have him. So if you're going after Tyler Algier, you're talking about $17 million over two to three years. It's cost effective, pro bowl, floor, without spending a top 10 pit. Chris Rodriguez Jr is probably going to cost you about a third of that. So again, there's just a lot of reasons for me to go back there. Then you have the Super Bowl MVP, canine, Kenneth Walker, the third, CLC Hawks declined

14:32to franchise tag him. He's the Super Bowl MVP. A lot of people say that he's the biggest prize on the market. Again, it's the IB holder, what you need, what you have, what you don't have, things like that. Now, Washington has been named by some as the ideal landing spot, quote unquote for Kenneth Walker. I saw Dan Graziano of ESPN predicted Kenneth Walker coming to Washington. I love Kenneth Walker. Kenneth Walker is a great running back talent. Miss Tackles is one thing that he did really well with led the NFL with 65 of them. Here's the thing. He's not known for catching. He's not known for blocking. You already got that, you already got that on the roster now is Kenneth Walker a better version of that? Sure. Could there potentially be a case where it's Kenneth Walker, Jacori Kroski-Marit and maybe Jeremiah Love, like, I don't know. You seem to get just a little top heavy to me, Walker and Kroski-Marit I think would be a really good 1a, 1b. The problem is who's going to catch passes out of the backfield, who's going to block in the backfield? It still leaves a really big question for the Washington Mayor's roster.

15:33So it's not that I don't love Kenneth Walker as much as anybody else does. I just don't see where he adds to what the running back room already has. I think he makes what they already have better, but I only think he adds what they need, which is past catching ability, blocking ability, and I've said it before. I think Bill and Chris Rodriguez can block and pass catch better than they're giving credit. I'm not going to try to say they could be the best catching, past catching duo, run-blocking duo in the NFL, nothing like that necessarily, but I do think they can do better than they've shown so far. Some other names keep in mind that are a little bit cheaper, a little bit in the familiarity area of the conversation, Kenneth Gainwell, former Pittsburgh Steelers running back, certainly has that pedigree as a pass catcher, things like that Rico Dowdell, Dan Quinn knows him from their time in Dallas, he spoke very highly of him when Rico and the Dallas Cowboys came to town in 2024. So obviously, there's some connections there. Gainwell is kind of a dynamic receiving threat here, Layden's career, a lot like Austin Eccler to be that receiving back. So if that's where they want to go with it, you could go Kenneth Gainwell, Joe Corey

16:37Croskey, Merrick Chris Rodriguez, and then you could still actually go out there, and if you wanted to draft Jeremiah Love and then just let the four, figure out who the top three are for the active roster. You could go cheap, helps you save money, you get guy like Tyler Linderbaum because you save some money in the backfield, and they open the holes wide enough. I could run through them, not very fast, but I could run through them. And of course, those guys who run faster could certainly do it. So what is the move? I'm making predictions here in this series leading up to free agency. The move to me is you tender or sign that I would prefer, I think Chris Rodriguez would prefer, I should say, and I would prefer a longer deal of Chris Rodriguez Jr., give him that security, lock these guys in for a couple of years together, him and Bill, and whoever you sign, and I think Rashad White is going to be the guy, just think again, you go back to how much Rashad wants to be here, how much Jaden likely, I should say, I don't want to put words in Jaden's mouth, but you know, the friendship is real, so I think probably wants to play with them. And the comments we've heard over and over again, it's about Jaden. So if it's about Jaden, Jaden wants that running back, Jaden's probably going to get that

17:38running back. You also need to adjust this, our working depth chart. So we've added Rashad White as a free agent, we're bringing back Chris Rodriguez Jr., either on the tender or on new contract, whatever. White receiver, Jay Lynn Naylor has joined the roster from our receiver episode. Now, we did bring in Connor McGovern in our online episode, but he has resigned with the Buffalo Bills. So we got to shift that over. I'm going to shift it to Cade Mays, who is not a center guard player. He's a center, and then we're going to bring back Chris Paul. Now there's, you know, conversations out there, rumors reports that everyone will call him that the commander is going to let Chris Paul go do his thing, but that they're open to bringing him back likely on a one year deal. I think Chris had a really good season in 2025. I don't know that it's enough to get him any type of real competitive market, because teams tend to like a little bit of consistency in those areas. So Chris Paul, what I think what it boils down to is, first of all, I know he loves the atmosphere. I know he loves the culture, loves being in the building in the locker room. So I think ultimately Chris looks at the market, probably going to get some offers, probably

18:40going to get some interest and says, you know what, Washington is the plate. You come to Washington. You come into the off season as the incumbent starting left guard, and you basically just have to go out there and not lose your job to a certain extent. I think that's a really good opportunity for Chris. It's one year deal. But it doesn't work out. You can always shift gears in 2027. If it does work out, then you either get a payday in 2027 or you go find a new home either way. I think bet on yourself, staying in an area that you know, you know, where you're at, you know, the environment. I think that is probably the best decision for Chris Paul. So then Chris Paul comes back, Caden Maze is the answer at center. I've got him slotted in there as the starter, just because you're going to pay him more money than Nick Allegretti. Well, you know, look, if Nick Allegretti comes out and just balls out on campus and says, hey, it's my job. It could potentially be his job. I kind of want to add David Edwards, the Buffalo Bill's guard. He's going to be a free agent to the mix, but because we didn't talk about him in the old lineup, so it relates a little bit of cheating. So I'm going to box myself into some rules as I create the game as we go through this weekend. So that's what it is.

19:41Still hold no out. Hope for Tyler Linderbaum. I know not everybody is confident that's going to be the move. But hey, man, if AP wants to take a big swing and free agency, Tyler Linderbaum is about as big as they get us going to do it for today's episode next time on Locked On Commanders. We're continuing the series. Actually, we're going to wrap up this series with all the rest of the position groups that we haven't discussed yet in our free agency primer. So make sure you are subscribed, make sure you're following along with Locked On Commanders. So you get all the latest episodes. And if you're in every day or the every day or club is built for you, Locked On Commanders out supercast.com to check out the every day or club get all kinds of bonus content access information. It's a lot of fun promo code free agency all one word right now gets you a month for free the URL with the promo code in it for you is in the show notes below just copy it pasted into your URL, paste it into your browser and it'll take you straight to that. So you get one month of the every day or club for free. We're still getting a new signups even into the weekend greatly appreciate all you coming through for that just in time for free agency here on Locked On Commanders.

20:41So to the everydayers, I see you. I appreciate you every single day. And I thank you again for coming through today to everybody out there. Until next time, please stay safe. Be kind. I will see you right back here next time for another episode of Locked On Commanders. Part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day. The winter games are officially here and if you're anything like us, you're locking in for events you only get to see on the biggest stage every four years. And that's why following the winter games on Fandall just makes sense from middle counts to individual events to finding your angle on the sports you care about most. Fandall gives you more ways to say connected to the action. The drama of curling matches that start slow and somehow get intense fast hockey games that feel different right from opening face off. The winter games are on and there's no better way to follow them than with Fandall. Play your game. Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter? Right. And the best part? They accept discover.

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