LA Rams RB Malcolm Brown may need new zip in 2020

The LA Rams RB Malcolm Brown has patiently played the backup role to RB Todd Gurley. Unfortunately, he may need new zip in 2020

The LA Rams begin another journey of metamorphosis.  Despite the fans best intended wishes, the Rams, like every NFL team, reinvents itself from one year to another. Familiar faces move on to other NFL teams, some gracefully retire, while still others hope to have the phone ring, but are disappointed to find that the game of football has moved on without them.  It’s necessary, because hundreds of new football hopefuls stream into the league, buoyed by their raw talent and enthusiasm, hoping to earn their place on the roster in the new season. Such is the role of backup running back Malcolm Brown.

So the career of running back Malcolm  Brown as an LA Rams backup rusher is somewhat of an anomaly.  Five NFL seasons backing up running back Todd Gurley has painted Brown somewhat into a corner.  197 career NFL rushes, 769 total yards rushing, and six touchdowns.  Five of those touchdowns occurred in 2019.   He also contributes to the passing game, catching 20 of 28 passes thrown his way for 165 yards and one touchdown.

5-foot-11 222  pound Malcolm Brown was on the verge of a breakout season in 2019. He opened the season with 11 carries for 53 yards and two touchdowns on the road against the Carolina Panthers. But as happened in seasons before, the team failed to commit to him.  His snap counts waned from nearly a third of the offense, down to one of twenty.

It’s awfully tough for a running back to “feel” the game playing as though each snap will be the last for the game, or even for the season. Such is the life of anyone whose NFL career is based on backing up Rams running back Todd Gurley.

Must get touches

Many draft profiles seem to miss the mark for players after they land in the NFL. But even five years later, the NFL.com draft profile for Malcolm Brown still seems bullseye accurate. A solid running back with the ability to “wear down defenses” with heavy use. A capable receiver. Can break arm tackles, but has no turbo, no zip, in his tank. He gets only the yards he is supposed to get.

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Brown has value for the right team. If he is given the chance at 20 plus carries in a game, he has the dig-down-deep mentality to get 100 yards rushing in him.  However, that opportunity will likely not happen at the LA Rams. If not Gurley under head coach Sean McVay, then nobody will carry the ball.  2019 was a test of the offense to manage Gurley’s workload. The outcome was disappointing for virtually everyone.

While the team did successfully reduce running back Todd Gurley’s workload in 2019, the carries were not transferred to another running back. Instead, the Rams simply assumed a pass heavy offense. For Brown, the 2019 season could not have been a worse message.  The team eliminated rushing opportunities rather than hand  the ball off to Malcolm Brown.

New Zip needed

Brown has delivered almost exactly what his draft profile projected. He is not a flashy running back, but is simply one who can get to and through the hole, chewing up as many yards as possible on each play.  He does not possess breakaway speed, but rather the power and momentum to slowly wear down NFL defenses, particularly as defenders become leaner and faster.

Brown is the infantry serving on an air force base. His is the type of game designed to run the ball, catch the ball in the flats, and move the chains. For some teams, that has value. For the current LA Rams offense? Not so much.

Earning snaps on the Rams offense in 2020 requires that blinding burst of speed.  Zip. That was what the team felt they drafted in the 2019 NFL Draft in Darrell Henderson. That is what the Rams can draft in the 2020 NFL Draft in running back prospect Salvon Ahmed from the University of Washington.

The Rams may seek new zip in the running game.  But perhaps equally important is the need for running back Malcolm Brown to have a chance to fulfill his full potential with a new NFL team.  Some may think he has little to no value, but that’s short-sighted.  On the right team, Brown is a perfect solution to maintaining a ball control offense, and with it, the game clock.  Trading Brown to a run-focused offense should net the Rams a day three pick. Brown is an NFL veteran rusher, who can deliver either rushing or catching the football.  That still has value to some NFL teams.

Brown has done everything the Rams have asked of him, but when the time came to expand his role, the team balked. The Rams owe Brown that opportunity.  Even while the team seeks more zip on offense, they should seek a new zip code for Brown.