Can LA Rams RB Darrell Henderson bench Todd Gurley this year?

2019 missed opportunity

2019’s outcome is disappointing, because the 2019 NFL Draft selection of Henderson was sold as a way to get Gurley off the field and take fewer snaps, while allowing Henderson to pick up a regular portion of each Sunday’s plays.  Whether that means draw plays, using Henderson as a check down receiver, or simply as a pass protecting running back (which he is not good at), he was to unburden Gurley to help the Rams running game stay fresh all season long. Is Henderson up to the task in 2020?

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All of these deliberations would be resolved had the Rams given Henderson more work in 2019. That’s now water under the bridge, as is the 2019 NFL season. What faces the LA Rams is the need to make the running game threaten defenses enough to prevent them from pinning their ears back and teeing off on quarterback Jared Goff.

Of course, the Rams have flirted with running back John Kelly as well, signing him back to the practice squad in November 2019. He makes the fourth rusher for the team now, albeit he had struggled to crack the roster behind Gurley, Brown, and Henderson.

In 2019, the Rams running backs ranked Gurley, Brown, Henderson, and Kelly. How they will rank in 2020 is open to debate. Hopefully, Henderson will improve significantly from his rookie to his sophomore season.  Hopefully, Gurley will recover as well and be back to full production.  If he regresses further, then 2020 may be the season where Henderson will take over as the main rusher for the Rams, and Gurley will sit a few series out on the bench.