The first time Arizona RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt practiced with the East Team at the 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl, he stood out. It wasn’t just the white leggings or the red shorts, although that made it easy to pick him out on film later that day. What made Croskey-Merritt command attention was his energy. On every play. Whether the play called in team session was a running or passing play, he gave full effort every snap. Running backs aren’t asked or expected to provide pass protection at the Shrine Bowl, but that didn’t stop him from throwing blocks for his quarterback.
When I sat down with Croskey-Merritt at the Shrine Bowl, his energy was contagious. He lights up talking about football and his love for the game is clear. That’s what made it so hard for him to sit out almost the entire 2024 season. What should have been a redshirt senior year at the University of Arizona after transferring from the University of New Mexico became a lost season due to eligibility questions.
After a strong performance in the season opener, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown, he was benched while the Arizona coaching staff and compliance team tried to sort out the issue. Based on information on his New Mexico player profile, Croskey-Merritt had played four seasons at Alabama State University, including a red shirt year and the COVID year. He played in only four games in 2019 and thought that was considered a redshirt year, leaving him with a final year of eligibility in 2024.
After a strong 2023 season at New Mexico marked by 1191 yards on 188 carries and 17 touchdowns, Croskey-Merritt wanted to play on a bigger stage to showcase his abilities.
“I just wanted to play against better competition to show like I’m really a truly talented back and to just get to the next level. So that was really my main thing of just transferring school so I can play against better competition because I didn’t have that chance out of high school and it’s paying off well right now.”
As far as Croskey-Merritt understands, there was never any resolution from the NCAA because Arizona took a cautious approach and kept him off the roster for the entire season. That didn’t stop him from helping his teammates and contributing any way that he could. To his credit, he doesn’t seem to feel any resentment regarding the missed time.
“I had to sit out for a whole year and basically just stayed around the team. I was on scout team, helping my team out. Never missed a practice or a meeting. And at this point right now I’m playing [again], getting better and just still showing that I still can do everything, like haven’t skipped a beat.”
He certainly seems to be just as good, if not better. In the season opener for Arizona, Croskey-Merritt showed off his footwork and ability to cut, as seen in this nine-yard run:
On a 36-yard touchdown, he might not even have been going full speed:
In the Shrine Bowl, Croskey-Merritt put on a show, earning the offensive MVP award. He produced 97 yards on 11 carries and scored two touchdowns. His footwork and ability to earn yards after contact helped an offense that was not producing in the passing game:
Growing up in Alabama, Croskey-Merritt was a Steelers fan and instantly became excited when I asked him if he had spoken with Steelers scouts during his time in Frisco. “Go Terrible Towels! Yeah, I always been a Pittsburgh fan growing up really since I was a kid. I always been a true Pittsburgh fan, so really that’d be amazing [to play for the Steelers]. Like a dream come true.”
While he waits to see what jersey he will wear in 2025, he will continue training for his pro day in Dallas at Built 4 It. He’s expecting his 40 time to be 4.4 or a high 4.3 seconds. Based on the data provided by Zebra Technologies and his in-game speed of 19.64 mph, it certainly seems possible that he will achieve that. He has not yet received an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine but that may change based on his Shrine Bowl performance.
Whether Croskey-Merrit gets to the Combine or not, he has certainly raised his draft stock. And evaluators may find a comparison in another former Shrine Bowl running back, Isiah Pacheco. Drafted in the seventh round by the Kansas City Chiefs, Pacheco is considered one of the steals of the 2022 draft.
The two backs have similar measurables, both physically and with regard to on-field performance. Measuring in at 5104 and 206 pounds, Croskey-Merritt is similar to Pacheco, who was measured as 5103 and 216 pounds at the Combine. Pacheco ran a 4.37 second 40 yard dash and was clocked by Zebra with a maximum acceleration of 4.9 yds/s2. Like Pacheco, Croskey-Merritt is speedy, with a maximum acceleration of 5.22 yds/s2. And also like Pacheco, Croskey-Merritt may turn out the be the steal of his draft.
