Yes, the LA Rams roster still needs a red zone running back

Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

After moving the football 129 yards on the ground and over 200 yards through the air, you may think that the LA Rams offense is good to go. Well, in many ways, it showed the type of improvements that were necessary to indicate that this is a well-coached team and that the players, even low on the depth chart, can respond well.

The offense certainly moved the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders defense. Even if you strip out the nine carries for 41 yards rushing by quarterback Bryce Perkins, you still have a game with 18 rushes for 88 yards, good enough for a 4.9 yards-per-carry average. That was the type of running that gave enough oomph for the coaches to answer the question of who and what do they have in the backfield.

They can now answer what they do not have.

The LA Rams offense may be focusing on explosiveness. It may be an offense that wants to push the ball downfield.  This may be a 5000 yard passing season for the veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. Even with all of this high octane offense idling, just waiting for the 2021 season to begin to unleash on the unsuspecting NFL, this team needs a short-yardage rusher.

Rams roster

Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams

Los Angeles Rams

Panicked? Nope. Preseason is a test lab, a clinical trial, an environment where the coaching staff tries various strategies to prove whether those tactics achieve the desired results or don’t. Then, armed with the pass/fail feedback, plays can be modified, roster needs can be refocused, and the team can go back, jack, and do it again. We are right there with the coaches, and we are bringing you along for the journey.

The LA Rams need a big back. Someone who could fill the ‘move the pile forward” type of rusher. Someone who could play as C.J. Anderson did, or LeGarrette Blount, or the latest New England Patriot Rhamondre Stevenson.

Ideally, the LA Rams could make excellent use of a big-bodied running back. Someone who stands 6-foot-0 or taller, who weighs 230-pounds or heavier, and who can break tackles. Not a blocking back, but rather someone who can carry the football and get the tough yards.


Easier said than done? The New England Patriots picked up this young man with the 120th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. If you prioritize a big-bodied running back, you can find them. They are out there. It just requires an NFL front office to prioritize them, find them, and sign them.

It’s not going out on a limb to claim that the LA Rams duplicate skillsets on their roster. The Rams can place Darrell Henderson, Raymond Calais, and Otis Anderson Jr. into the small elusive category. The team can put Cam Akers, Xavier Jones, and Jake Funk into the multi-purpose category. But that big-bodied guy who can move the chains on short yardage, or plunge it in for a touchdown on the two-yard line? He’s not on the roster.

I think that the telltale sign for the Rams to make a claim off the waiver wife is the fact that they haven’t rushed for a single touchdown yet.  Is the sky falling? No. Is it a sign of Armageddon? No. But it is an indication that the Rams may tweak their running back room one more time. This Rams roster does not have a tackle-breaking big-bodied rusher right now. But that type of rusher would fill a huge void.  And Rams GM Les Snead, much like nature, abhors a vacuum.

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