The fantasy football season kicks off with an exciting NFC East showdown as Washington hosts the Giants in Week 1. With QB Jayden Daniels coming off his Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign and a revamped backfield, this matchup presents intriguing storylines for fantasy managers.
The Giants’ defense showed they could contain Washington’s aerial attack last season, but will they have answers for the Commanders’ new-look offense? Let’s break down the key fantasy players to watch in this season-opening divisional clash.
Jayden Daniels, QB
All things considered, I thought the Giants did a pretty good job against Jayden Daniels during his Rookie of the Year campaign last season. Across two games, they didn’t allow him to get loose for a run that picked up more than 16 yards and surrendered just 435 yards on his 38 completions.
But, c’mon. There’s no decision to be made here, and with New York having the second-lowest interception rate across the league last season, Daniels was a matchup nightmare league-wide in 2024 and figures to present the same problems this year.
In a spot where the opponent struggles to make splash plays, why would we expect anything less than elite production to open 2025?
Austin Ekeler, RB
I respect what Austin Ekeler has done for his career and what he has brought to the fantasy industry as a content contributor. However, his status with the Commanders is less certain than it was previously. With Brian Robinson Jr. being shipped out of town, there is a reasonable production floor here. Can Ekeler still be a reliable fantasy flex?
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That doesn’t mean you should play him in Week 1 with the entire NFL available. But could he be flexed in Week 10 in a potential shootout against the Detroit Lions while you navigate a week that has Chase Brown, Isiah Pacheco, and Tony Pollard on bye?
I think so. For Ekeler, the floor is elevated, but the ceiling is low. In my opinion, you are just as unlikely to get a week-winning performance as you are a performance that sinks your matchup. While neither is going to happen often, there is a spot on a roster for a “safe” 9 to 11 PPR points.
Jacory ‘Bill’ Croskey-Merritt, RB
What an overwhelming month it has been for Jacory Croskey-Merritt. In roughly thirty days, the rookie went from a seventh-round pick to a fantasy football phenomenon.
You’ll often hear him called “Bill,” a nickname he got as a child when his family thought his bald head resembled the cartoon character “Little Bill.” His strong training camp first turned the heads of beat reporters, then his preseason plays caught the eye of fans. Finally, the trade of Brian Robinson Jr. on Aug. 22 confirmed that the internal buzz was real.
But let’s be clear — Croskey-Merritt was a seventh-round pick for a reason. He had an unusual college career, taking snaps for three different programs over six years. His first four seasons were at FCS Alabama State, where he failed to average even 4.0 yards per carry in any campaign. After transferring, he showed enough promise to get drafted on the final night and has continued to impress since. So, what now?
A player with only one 140-touch season on his resume is now considered the potential lead back for an NFL team aiming for the playoffs. To say things are moving fast for him and for fantasy managers would be an understatement, which will likely lead to uneven production.
On the bright side, this is a long season. If you drafted him, and his rising ADP is a great reminder to draft as late as possible, the best move now is to wait. Veteran Austin Ekeler sits atop the depth chart, but he has said he left Los Angeles because he didn’t want a bellcow workload, and it’s safe to assume that stance hasn’t changed with age.
The #Commanders are getting a tremendous value in the explosive, creative, & unpredictable RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt (@JacoryMerritt15)!
Crosky-Merritt displays nimble footwork, strong leg drive to finish, & breakaway speed!#NFLDraft #RaiseHail @raj_manjrekar pic.twitter.com/f8tyRXojqX
— Noah K.M. Chang (@NoahKMChang) April 26, 2025
This situation means Croskey-Merritt will get every chance to succeed and prove that the flashes we saw this summer were the start of something special, not just an outlier. I’m cautiously optimistic. First-year production from a player with Croskey-Merritt’s profile isn’t common, but succeeding in a high-powered offense next to an elite quarterback is certainly possible.
The best approach is to wait and see. The fantasy projection looks a lot different with 14 touches compared to 20, so why force the issue and start him in Week 1 over a player you drafted higher who has a more defined role?
Washington heads to Lambeau Field to kick off Week 2 on Thursday night, and I’m remaining cautious regardless of how Week 1 unfolds. If he gets a heavy workload, there’s a legitimate concern about his recovery on a short week.
If he doesn’t get much work, his role will be in question. But after that quick turnaround, Washington gets extended rest before facing Las Vegas and then traveling to Atlanta. If Croskey-Merritt truly fills the role Robinson left behind, I’ll likely have him as an RB2 for Week 3.
Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB
Update: Chris Rodriguez Jr. is inactive and will not play today.
For fantasy managers, we have seen this story play out before. Chris Rodriguez Jr. is a name familiar to those in deeper leagues, and more casual managers have likely heard of him following the recent Brian Robinson Jr. trade. He was a 2023 sixth-round pick after a five-year career at Kentucky, where he recorded 29.6 rush attempts for every one reception.
Rodriguez has yet to be an impactful piece of the Commanders’ offense. Only 9% of his career touches have come in the first quarter, an indication that he is not a featured part of the game plan. However, in his two games with 10 or more carries in 2024, he gained 146 yards and scored a touchdown.
This is where the frustration begins. Rodriguez is a name that will likely come up in fantasy conversations, but probably not in a positive way. The industry has hyped rookie Jacory Crosky-Merritt, and veteran Austin Ekeler is going to do what he always does. This means when Rodriguez inevitably has an efficient game or gets a goal-line touch, you’ll be yelling at your TV.
He represents backfield depth that is more meaningful to Washington than to your fantasy team. So, what is his realistic touch ceiling? He is, at best, in a committee situation as part of an offense with a mobile quarterback, and he offers limited versatility while a rookie plays ahead of him.
I think we are looking at six to nine annoying touches a week. These touches may take points off the board for the other Commanders on your roster, but they won’t be consistent enough to justify rostering him.
Terry McLaurin, WR
Terry McLaurin established himself as Jayden Daniels’ most trusted weapon last season, and I very much expect that to carry over into 2025. That said, the Giants did a good job holding him in check when it comes to yardage (eight catches for just 41 yards across their two matchups), and there could be game script concerns should Washington establish control off the jump.
McLaurin had a 35-plus-yard reception in all three playoff games, and while he didn’t post any big plays against the G-Men last season, New York did finish 2024 as the fourth-worst per-pass defense, not to mention the very worst in the league in terms of yards allowed per deep pass.
No one expects McLaurin to repeat his 13 touchdowns from a season ago. Still, when you fold in his increased scoring equity with the defensive holes in this matchup, there are too many paths for Washington’s WR1 to finish as a top-20 producer at the position this week to do anything besides play him wherever you have him with confidence.
Deebo Samuel Sr., WR
Deebo Samuel Sr. is 29 years old, but I think we can all agree that his style of play makes him an “old” 29. He’s a contact-seeking missile who has 202 rush attempts on top of his 334 receptions, and the man has never played in every game of a season.
Deebo Samuel did not look slow on this jet sweep last night 💨 pic.twitter.com/sDDCJSUeTS
— brandon (@JayDanielsMVP) August 19, 2025
Washington’s move for him makes sense. He’s a low-risk option at this point in a position of need, and I do think there will be a few vintage spots this year, given the gravity that Daniels creates.
Forecasting those spots, however, is an inexact science at the moment. Maybe we get some clarity after seeing a few games. This offense can be creative and could result in Samuel’s unique skill set being leveraged meaningfully, but I need to see it first. He’s outside of my top-35 at the position this week, and I don’t see him entering that class at any point in September.
Zach Ertz, TE
As someone also in their mid-30s, I’d love for this season for me to be what 2024 was for Zach Ertz. The veteran stayed on the field (17 missed games over two years prior), averaged a career high 1.95 PPR points per target, and didn’t show signs of fatigue (TD against Lions in the Divisional Round; 11 grabs against Eagles with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line).
Ertz caught all five of his targets against the Giants last season (two games, 47 routes run), an underwhelming level of involvement, but at least he was efficient in Year 1 of the Jayden Daniels era. The Giants ranked fifth in blitz rate in 2024, a scheme I expect to sustain, and that introduces a PPR merchant sort of afternoon into the range of outcomes for a savvy player like Ertz.
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If the mission is to kill your opponent, death by 1,000 paper cuts is still a means to that end. It is important to note that, although he was surprisingly productive a season ago, it certainly didn’t look that way out of the gates for Ertz (under 40 receiving yards in four of his first five and held scoreless until the back-half of October).
We are talking about a tight end in a tier that stretches down some 8-12 names regarding “fringe TE1” status. In a perfect world, your matchup doesn’t hinge on a player like this, but in the scope of this range at the position, I’ll take the floor of Ertz over less proven options or those with unclear roles.
