LA Rams trade up for RB Kyren Williams at 164

The LA Rams traded up with the Las Vegas Raiders to acquire the 164th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. The Rams had a player in their sights, who was none other than Notre Dame RB Kyren Williams. Throughout the time leading up to the draft, the LA Rams emphasized the need for more picks in this draft. Well, that plan just flew out the window. It seems like the players who were there on the board so far have been just too good to pass up.

This is an exciting pick, one that gets me fired up. Williams is a fierce, fiery ballplayer with strong leadership skills and a willingness to leave it all out there on the field. He has also shown a desire to do the heavy lifting on all three downs and has stellar third-down talent both in blitz pickup, as well as a route-runner out of the backfield.

At 5-foot-9 and 180-pounds, he always seems to find a way to escape when seemingly boxed in. This young rusher has a good understanding of protection schemes, and runs with a consistent pace, never flagging or tiring in later downs or final minutes of a game. Despite his size, his lower center of gravity has made him very effective in the north-south running for short-yardage situations, as well as scoring opportunities in the Red Zone.

How will the LA Rams use him?

One former RB coach commented on Williams pre-draft, saying he could see how a team might use him in a similar fashion to how the Chargers use Austin Ekeler. Williams has a below-average burst as an outside runner and struggles to find sudden acceleration from his cuts. That being said, he is experienced lining up and running routes from the slot, and, where his speed prevents him from evading trouble, he shows no lack of desire to wade into battle with gritted teeth.

As we know, the character of a rookie prospect is very important to this team. LA Rams HC Sean Mcvay and GM Les Snead are especially attracted to leadership qualities in a young addition.

Williams is from St Louis and, as per Jourdan Rodrigue’s Twitter account ‘grew up a Rams fan and even dressed up as RB great Steven Jackson for Halloween one year as a kid.’ Rather ironic to this is the fact that Rams RB Steven Jackson announced the Rams pick at 104.

He sounds like he will be a warm, well-received addition to the LA Rams offense, and could be a vital rotational contributor this year as the team forges ahead to re-establish their ground game once more.