Neither PFF or the NFL respects the LA Rams roster at RB

Silver lining

Now for the good part. Are you ready? The Rams have been in an almost identical situation just two years ago when the team cut RB Todd Gurley and the only rushers to speak of were veteran running back Darrell Henderson Jr., Malcolm Brown, and rookie Cam Akers. At that time, Pro Football Focus projected the LA Rams running backs at 30th of 32 teams. Do you recall how the LA Rams running game turned out that year?

By season’s end, the LA Rams were the 10th ranked rushing offense in the NFL (per ESPN). The Rams approached the season with a running back by committee and found that all three rushers had outstanding games. If you substitute rookie Kyren Williams for Malcolm Brown, the LA Rams have virtually the exact same players to assemble a similarly effective season.

Run DMC

We all know what happened in 2020, don’t we? The LA Rams implemented a running back by committee approach, affectionately coined as RUN DMC:
D arrell Henderson Jr.
M alcolm Brown
C am Akers

The trio fired out of the gates as the Rams set a record pace with their rushing proficiency. At the time, the Rams’ offense was viewed no less pessimistically than this year’s offense.

While many Rams fans have assumed the ‘seeing is believing’ attitude about this LA Rams plan, the reality is that the Rams projections for the new season could not come in much worse. So what would it take for the Rams’ running game to rebound this year?