Will LA Rams get Darrell Henderson more active in passing game?

The LA Rams offense must get RB Darrell Henderson more active in passing downs in training camp this season

The LA Rams need to create more mismatches on offense. While the offense is working on the receiver configuration, the team has many options to create more opportunities on offense.  The LA Rams need to rethink the offense in 2020. The team learned in 2019 that sometimes the team needed to sacrifice receivers on the offensive line to shore up the blocking.  Fewer big plays, but more dependable results.

Now, the team must flip the offense and look at it from the other direction. Where are the team’s hidden talents? Where can the team harness skills for more production on the field? Speed, power, elusiveness are all resume cliches for a player on a football team until that football gets into that player’s hands. Then? It’s yards gained. Production. Moving the chains. So how can the Rams get the ball into the hands of a player who has speed, power, and elusiveness?

Positive possibilities

There are several options available to Rams head coach Sean McVay. Of course, chasing him down on a football field is not something we recommend. But it does trigger the concept we want to discuss.  Getting the ball to Henderson as a route runner in the passing game has a myriad of positive possibilities.

One option is to find new ways to harness the raw energy of second-year running back Darrell Henderson. After his almost token rookie season, the Rams know almost as little about his potential this year as last season. That needs to change.  And so far in training camp, it may be changing for the better.

Rams Rusher receiver combination

The New Orleans Saints have had great success over many years by featuring at least one running back as a primary receiver weapon. Other successful teams have incorporated successfully into their offensive scheme in the past as well. That wasn’t really an option because the LA Rams had “He-does-it-all” with running back Todd Gurley. But Gurley’s gone, and the Rams will be rethinking how to make use of talent in the running back room.

Enter Darrell Henderson. He is that promising rookie running back who was intended to be the change-of-pace back of the Rams 2019 offense. But Gurley never really got on track, which meant that the Rams never truly to shift to another running track. By the end of the season, the Rams handed the ball to Henderson 39 times and threw his way six times. No touchdowns. No hoopla. No impact. No reason to look forward to 2020.

Reset and run it again

The Rams changed things up in 2020. The team was so successful with Todd Gurley, that the team fell into the rut of just handing the ball to Gurley and watching him do his thing.  In 2020, the coaching staff will need to have a better plan.

Henderson is a 5-foot-9 200-pound offensive weapon who pulled in 63 passes in college for 758 yards and eight touchdowns. The Rams need more of receiver Henderson in their offense this year. Could the Rams be working on that?

Henderson could be used with deadly effectiveness as a receiver in 2020. Imagine the LA Rams lining up with two tight ends, two wide receivers, and Henderson in a slot. Who defends Henderson?  Linebackers and safeties are too slow. If the defense uses a slot CB, that opens up a tight end with linebacker coverage if the defense loads up on defensive backs, place Henderson in motion and either handoff or pitch out for a perimeter run.

The Rams can dictate from their offense where they create mismatches. Hopefully, Henderson is part of their offensive playbook in 2020. Not just as a rusher, but as a target in the passing game as well. He has the jets. It’s time for the Rams to turn them on.