Washington Adds Jerome Ford to Committee of Meh

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Sat, Mar 14 2026 7:18 PM UTC

The Commanders have agreed to a one-year deal with RB Jerome Ford. The former fifth-round pick spent the past four seasons in Cleveland. His high point came in 2023, with a 204-813-4 rushing line and 44 receptions for 319 yards and 5 TDs on 63 targets. That was the year Nick Chubb went down with a Week 2 knee injury. Ford dipped to 104 carries in 2024 but maintained a nice receiving role, leading the backfield in targets, catches, and yards. He fell behind Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson on last year's depth chart before hitting the open market.

2026 Impact

Ford will turn 27 in September and makes for a fine depth piece in what might become a committee backfield.

Washington retains Jacory Croskey-Merritt from last year but let Chris Rodriguez walk without a restricted free-agent tender and so far hasn't re-signed Jeremy McNichols. The Commanders did, of course, also recently add Rachaad White.

Neither Ford nor White has signed the type of deal that guarantees anything. And JCM put forth a merely decent rookie season after arriving as a seventh-round pick.

Washington has become a popular landing spot for RB Jeremiyah Love in mock drafts, a pick that would render the rest of these guys no more than handcuff selections.

But ... Croskey-Merritt did show some flashes as a late-round rookie coming off a disjointed college career. White enjoyed some receiving success in Tampa Bay. And Ford has been a solid player to date.

It would probably be a better value play for Washington to build out a backfield committee and spend the seventh overall pick on something other than a RB.

Fantasy Football Impact

We'll see, of course, what Washington decides to do there. For now, though, any of the three RBs under contract makes sense as a late-round best-ball option.

Croskey-Merritt sits at RB40 in Underdog Fantasy ADP as of this writing, White at RB42, and Jerome Ford at RB106 (undrafted).

I wouldn't be surprised if JCM falls from there, given the name recognition for fantasy players with White. "Bill" looks like the highest-upside play right now, especially in half- or non-PPR. Even if Washington were to draft Love, WR40+ would be a fair range for a handcuff type.

We'll see how the rest of Washington's offseason goes before analyzing the player outlooks any further.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.