Jacory Croskey-Merritt rising as NFL Draft gem after 'overwhelming' year at Arizona

Unique is one way to describe Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s football-playing career up to this point.

Croskey-Merritt’s lone season — more like lone game — at Arizona is unlike any other player to come through Tucson.

Now? Croskey-Merritt could become the first UA running back to hear his name called at the NFL Draft since 2021 — and could be a steal as a Day 3 prospect or undrafted free agent.

Croskey-Merritt, whose favorite teams growing up were the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, said the NFL Draft process “has been great and exciting” and the running back has “basically talked to every NFL team,” including the Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Commanders, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.

“Jacory, I’m happy for him and his family,” said Arizona running backs coach Alonzo Carter. “I’m excited to see what NFL team is getting a steal in the draft, because he’s an NFL football player.”

Croskey-Merritt, nicknamed Bill after the cartoon “Little Bill,” starred at Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery, Alabama, and garnered attention from several Division I programs, including Alabama State, a nearby HBCU.

“We didn’t think we had a chance at him because we knew he was a Power 5 (running back),” said former Alabama State head coach Donald Hill-Eley, who’s now the chief of staff at Georgia Tech.

Croskey-Merritt signed with Alabama State in 2019, “and worked hard for us,” Hill-Eley said, but “his freshman year was hard because we had two other running backs ahead of him.”

“The kid was questioning himself, but his sophomore year, he came along and did a great job,” Hill-Eley added. “He put on weight (and) he went to class. Everything you asked a student-athlete to do, he did it. He was accountable and ran the football hard.”

Croskey-Merritt played four seasons at Alabama State and rushed for 1,164 yards and 13 touchdowns, then transferred to New Mexico in 2023 “to put my name on the map,” he said. At New Mexico, Croskey-Merritt rushed for 1,190 yards — which ranked 23rd in college football — and 17 touchdowns, which ranked fifth nationally. Croskey-Merritt averaged 6.3 yards per carry for the Lobos. Croskey-Merritt ended the 2023 season with a 92.7 offensive grade on Pro Football Focus, which was the eighth-best grade nationally.

After New Mexico fired head coach Danny Gonzales, who’s now Arizona’s defensive coordinator, Croskey-Merritt re-entered the transfer portal and was one of the Wildcats’ first additions in the transfer portal under head coach Brent Brennan, but Croskey-Merritt flipped to Ole Miss and then had an about-face in June and re-joined the Wildcats.

Croskey-Merritt emerged as one of Arizona’s top offensive weapons in preseason training camp last summer and became the Wildcats’ headliner at running back.

In Arizona’s season-opening win against Croskey-Merritt’s former team, New Mexico, the running back had 13 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown.

“If I knew it was my last game, I would’ve tried to put 300 yards on New Mexico,” Croskey-Merritt said.

About that ...

Overcoming adversity

After Arizona beat New Mexico, Croskey-Merritt missed the remainder of his senior season after there was a “concern raised about his eligibility.”

The Wildcats were “overcautious” and pulled their star running back from playing games, but Croskey-Merritt stayed on the team.

“It was frustrating,” said Croskey-Merritt, who was told about his eligibility issues the Thursday before Arizona’s win over Northern Arizona. “We had the game-plan in already and they called me into the office and said, ‘You might not be able to play.’”

Croskey-Merritt said he “played in too many games” his freshman season at Alabama State. He “tried to get a redshirt, but it didn’t really work,” said Croskey-Merritt.

A rule implemented by the NCAA since 2018, Division I college football players can play four games and still preserve a redshirt year. Croskey-Merritt appeared in eight games as a reserve running back at Alabama State in 2019 and ended the year with 186 yards and two touchdowns.

Due to pandemic-related concerns, Alabama State didn’t play again until spring of 2021. When Alabama State reconvened, Croskey-Merritt and the coaching staff were under the impression that Croskey-Merritt redshirted his freshman season due to limited participation. Hill-Eley said Croskey-Merritt’s “redshirt thing was so screwed up.”

“We thought we redshirted him, but we went to COVID, so no one knew what was going on because the records and everything was moved around,” Hill-Eley said. “When we came back to play, we were going off the basis that we had redshirted him based on everything everyone else said.

“Come to find out, he played more games than what was said. I found that out later. However it turned out, it happened on my watch and I screwed the thing up. ... Nobody was here to contest that he didn’t play, so I did everything to get him another year, but in the end, I was wrong. He played two or three plays here and there and played more than he should’ve. ... The research that was done later should’ve been done in advance.”

Excluding the pandemic-influenced season, Croskey-Merritt exercised his eligibility prior to his one season at Arizona. Hill-Eley said Croskey-Merritt’s eligibility saga “was holy hell for me, because after 35 years of coaching, I’ve had a lot of good players that I never screwed up with eligibility.”

“I’ve never really screwed up anything,” Hill-Eley said. “It hit me in my integrity, because regardless of how it happened, I’m responsible for it. It got me, because I don’t want to screw a kid.”

Added Hill-Eley: “However it was, it was a straight miscue on everybody’s part. Unfortunately, I gotta include myself in that. ... The NCAA didn’t screw him up, we screwed him up.”

In an emailed response to the Star’s inquiry about Croskey-Merritt’s situation, the NCAA stated: “Due to federal privacy laws, the NCAA does not comment on specific eligibility matters.”

In September, Brennan said Croskey-Merritt, who also took an official visit to Washington and received interest from other schools, was “thoroughly vetted” by the (UA) compliance office.

“I just feel bad for the young man,” Brennan said. “I really do.”

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Eligibility in collegiate sports, especially football, is in a murky period between redshirt seasons and the “COVID year.” Miami tight end Cam McCormick just concluded his ninth season, while Utah quarterback Cameron Rising finished his seven-year career.

“If I knew I didn’t have another year, I wouldn’t have tried to play (in college) again,” Croskey-Merritt said.

Sitting out for the final 11 games at Arizona “was one of the toughest things I’ve ever gone through,” Croskey-Merritt said.

“The only thing that’s gonna sit with me forever is I really wanted to play at Arizona,” Croskey-Merritt said. “I think about that every day, how much I could’ve impacted the school. I mean that in the humblest way. ... That’s the only thing I wish I could have back. ... Being home on Saturdays watching my team play, especially when you grind all summer and all fall camp, that was a different type of feeling right there.”

Croskey-Merritt didn’t dwell on his college career coming to a screeching halt for too long.

“It was a little adversity that I had to go through in my life,” he said. “Everyone goes through stuff. I just had to be strong and get through it. Of course, I wanted to play, but it wasn’t the end of the world.”

Croskey-Merritt contributed as a scout-team running back and helped the Wildcats prepare for games every week.

“They treated me like I was still on the team,” Croskey-Merritt said. “They didn’t look at me a different kind of way. I did everything with the team and they showed me love. They coached me up like I was gonna play.”

Carter’s plan for Croskey-Merritt was “trying to get him to see the vision during the season even though he wasn’t able to play,” said Arizona’s running backs coach.

“We hammered him on the process and made him get on the board to write up plays and do mock interviews and prep him for what the (NFL) process was going to be,” said Carter.

Croskey-Merritt called the NCAA “almost every day” throughout the season to get cleared to play, but once he realized he wasn’t returning, he began the NFL Draft process.

“I always knew I was going to get my shot, it was just a matter of how it was going to happen, whether it was drafted or undrafted,” he said. “I just started getting ready for the NFL, going to meetings and working out.”

Sitting out “was overwhelming, because it was my last year and it hurt my draft stock,” said Croskey-Merritt.

“I feel like everything played out the way it was supposed to, because anything could’ve happened this season and we’re here now,” he said. “If I was able to play, I feel like (my stock) would be way higher than what it is now. That’s just the cards I was dealt. I feel like I’m handling it good. ... My college career showed me you have to keep going through adversity. It doesn’t matter how you start, it’s how you finish.”

‘A bad situation that turned out to be good’

Not all was lost for Croskey-Merritt.

The running back participated in the Hula Bowl and the East-West Shrine Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where he posted 11 rushing attempts for 97 yards and two touchdowns in the college football all-star showcase for draft-eligible players.

“My family was proud,” Croskey-Merritt said. “They all pulled up because they wanted to be in the (Dallas Cowboys’) stadium. That was big for me, too.”

Donning Arizona and New Mexico decals on his helmet, Croskey-Merritt received Offensive MVP honors for the East-West Shrine Bowl. In a calendar year, between Arizona’s season opener and the East-West Shrine Bowl, Croskey-Merritt combined for 203 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.

“I think I showed I’m one of the best backs in the country,” Croskey-Merritt said of his performance. “Me not playing this season, it was big, but I can play with the best people in the world. I feel like I showed that all week in the practices and the game.”

At Big 12 Pro Day in Frisco, Texas, Croskey-Merritt had the fastest 40-yard dash time (4.45 seconds) and highest vertical (41.5 inches) for running backs. Croskey-Merritt also had the second-most bench press reps (17) and third-best broad jump (10 feet, 4 inches) for running backs.

“Whoever drafts that young man is going to be pleasantly surprised and happy,” Carter said. “He’s legit. What he’s doing doesn’t surprise us.”

Between his performances at the East-West Shrine Bowl and Big 12 Pro Day, Croskey-Merritt’s eligibility snafu “was a bad situation that turned out to be good,” said Hill-Eley, because the running back’s draft stock is rising and he avoided injury during his time at Arizona. In other words, there’s more tread on the tires.

“It didn’t help me (not playing), but it didn’t hurt me as bad as I thought because I had a great pre-draft process,” he said.

Of course, teams are curious about Croskey-Merritt’s season at Arizona, which “gets brought up every conversation” he’s had with NFL teams leading up to the draft.

“They feel like it’s a unique story, but they just want to hear how I handled the situation,” Croskey-Merritt said. “They know I’m a talented player. I don’t think it’s as big of a concern as people may think. Of course, playing this year could’ve helped my draft stock, but I don’t have as many hits on my body.”

Croskey-Merritt did everything correctly in the offseason. Now his NFL future “is in God’s hands.”

If Croskey-Merritt gets drafted on Saturday, “I wouldn’t know how to feel,” he said.

“I would be more happy for my family than me because I know they’re going to be so happy,” said Croskey-Merritt. “This is really for them. I just want to see their faces and make them happy. ... I knew I was good at football, but this is a whole different type of level. I’m just excited for this opportunity.

“This is just the first part of it. I want to actually go to the NFL and do something. I’m excited.”