{"id":161290,"date":"2025-06-27T00:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T00:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/161290\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T00:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T00:35:11","slug":"1-obvious-commanders-trade-candidate-entering-2025-training-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/161290\/","title":{"rendered":"1 obvious Commanders trade candidate entering 2025 training camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post 1 obvious Commanders trade candidate entering 2025 training camp<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The hype train has rolled into the <\/a>Washington Commanders<\/a>\u2019 camp with Jayden Daniels on board. But the Commanders may still have missing pieces<\/a> for their 2025 roster. Also, here is one obvious Commanders trade candidate entering the 2025 training camp.<\/p>\n

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First, it needs to be said that the Commanders have a strong and competitive roster. The group looks much more solid than the 2024 version. But one of the question marks remains at a very important position.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where the Commanders might still make a trade.<\/p>\n

Commanders could deal RB Austin Ekeler\"Geoff<\/p>\n

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

To be clear, Ekeler\u2019s best NFL days are behind him. One of the reasons for that has been his usage. In eight NFL seasons, Ekeler has 1,542 touches. That\u2019s a boatload.<\/p>\n

Now add in the fact that he\u2019s coming off an injury-plagued season with the dreaded concussion.<\/p>\n

Further complicating his spot on the roster has been the emergence of a rookie seventh-round selection. Jacory Croskey-Merritt could make Ekeler expendable (a.k.a. tradeable) if he continues to flash NFL-ready signs during the upcoming training camp.<\/p>\n

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Croskey-Merritt said he\u2019s learning, watching, and growing<\/a>, according to commanders.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m learning a lot, day by day,\u201d Croskey-Merritt said. \u201cThose guys are telling me just small details of the game, like what I can work on or what we can do better to improve as a running back room.<\/p>\n

It helps his cause that the Commanders\u2019 coaching staff likes what they\u2019ve seen thus far.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s working, man,\u201d said running backs coach Anthony Lynn. \u201cHe\u2019s already a young professional. He worked his way up from Alabama State to get to this level, and that says a lot about his work ethic right there. I don\u2019t know what we have in him, but he\u2019s learning right now. He\u2019s growing up like a weed every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Croskey-Merritt said he believes in himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know what\u2019s coming, but they really don\u2019t,\u201d Croskey-Merritt said. \u201cI just want to go out there and show them. That\u2019s the bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does RB Austin Ekeler<\/a> think about 2025?<\/p>\n

For his part, Ekeler said he\u2019s excited to get in another season alongside Daniels. Ekeler said Daniels is ahead of the curve<\/a>, according to Sirius XM NFL Radio via nfl.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe definitely exceeded expectations,\u201d Ekeler said in a recent Sirius XM NFL Radio interview. \u201cI think that\u2019s a good thing, not that I have low expectations for him, but you really don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I think with quarterbacks that come in, and I\u2019ve been around long enough to know how much they have on their plate, there\u2019s a lot that they have to acclimate to. There\u2019s a lot, especially learning a new playbook and getting into a new organization. And you were the second-overall pick and a lot of high expectations.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was like, \u2018Yeah, I\u2019m expecting you to play well.\u2019 Now, go out and kind of have an MVP-caliber type season. And where you are competing in those conversations, typically you don\u2019t get that from players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plus, Ekeler said expects Daniels to be even better in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s even going to be more growth this year, which is awesome because of where we are at with our team and have a lot of players back,\u201d Ekeler said. \u201cHe crushed it last year,\u201d Ekeler said. \u201cWhat I see for him going into this year. We have the same offensive coordinator. And so bringing that into the mix has now made it, so, now when we go through OTAs, Jayden is already on it. He\u2019s beyond kind of the rookie mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd learning the playbook, getting a play called out slow. He\u2019s getting people lined up. We got new guys coming in and he\u2019s like, \u2018Deebo you are not over here, you\u2019re on that side.\u2019 \u201cWhen you start to see him kind of orchestrating out there, you could tell that there\u2019s that growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But the bottom line for Ekeler is where he fits. If Croskey-Merritt proves he deserves a roster spot ahead of Ekeler, it creates an interesting situation. Perhaps the Commanders could send Ekeler and a pick to another team that would allow the Commanders to shore up their edge rusher position.<\/p>\n

Also fighting for a roster spot in the Commanders\u2019 backfield are Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Jeremy McNichols. Right now, McNichols looks like the odd man out. But that\u2019s what training camp is for, and each player still has a shot.<\/p>\n

Related: Jayden Daniels earns \u2018Best NFC East QB\u2019 take from ex-Cowboys linemen<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Jayden Daniels\u2019 star teammate makes \u2018powerhouse\u2019 Commanders prediction<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post 1 obvious Commanders trade candidate entering 2025 training camp appeared first on ClutchPoints. The hype train…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[4142,9764,427,7,3006,734,8227,6,8896,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-161290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-austin-ekeler","9":"tag-chris-rodriguez-jr","10":"tag-commanders","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-jacory-croskey-merritt","13":"tag-jayden-daniels","14":"tag-jeremy-mcnichols","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-training-camp","17":"tag-washington","18":"tag-washington-commanders","19":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114752528394509065","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}