LA Rams ground game appears to be under construction

Rams rushing renaissance

At their peak, the LA Rams’ ground attack can be quite dangerous. It was only one year ago to the day that we envisioned a breakout season for RB Cam Akers, a solid complementary role for Darrell Henderson Jr., and a tough yardage red-zone role for Xavier Jones. But now, it’s truly hard to say how the Rams’ rushing offense will be designed for the new NFL season.

Will Ra’Shaad Samples make wholesale changes? I wouldn’t think so. Much like Offensive line coach Kevin Carberry, the infusion of Samples is to make do with what the LA Rams have at the position, and then create a wish list after he has a good understanding of who and what he has on the roster right now.

Coach Samples has shown a bit of ingenuity when he gets involved with an offense. He had his hands in the SMU’s rushing offense when Xavier Jones was able to set the NCAA Scoring title in 2019.  But at both SMU and TCU, the offenses were not built upon the production of one rusher but were rather assembled upon the rushing of several rushers all finding ways to contribute by committee or platooning.

And it’s probably worthwhile to point out that at TCU, their fullback Carter Ware was also categorized as a tight end. We’ll circle back to that point in the next slide.

Ultimately, Coach Samples didn’t earn a reputation from the way he handled one talented rusher, but rather how he forged a talented unit of running backs, all from varying levels of experience, talents, and opportunities. Curiously, that is where the LA Rams find themselves as the team prepares for the 2022 NFL season. But wasn’t there one more thing to discuss? Ah yes… that link between running backs and tight ends. Let’s touch on that now…