How a Rams legend and Saquon Barkley's premium contract will revive RB position

The NFL is still a copycat league

The NFL is a copycat league. If an NFL team shows any innovative ideas that pan out, it's not long before other teams in the NFL work on develop those innovations for their own team. For LA Rams fans, that process is all-too-familiar as the Rams coaching staff continues to be cannibalized annually by other teams that seek a jumpstart method to transplanting kernels of the Rams success into their own coaching staff.

Even now, as Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley gash NFL defenses week after week, the Rams roster boasts RB Kyren Williams, a running back who has rushed for 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2024. With one game remaining, he has rushed for more yards under Rams HC Sean McVay since RB Todd Gurley rushed for 1,305 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2017.

And the Rams front office would be wise to reflect upon the team's running back room now. Kyren Williams, drafted in 2022, will become a free agent after the 2025 NFL season. Will the Rams view Williams as a:

(A) Must sign
(B) Sign to team-friendly contract
(C) Sign to discounted contract
(D) Don't re-sign

As the value of running backs inflates in the wake of Barkley's 2024 production, the Rams front office will face a tough decision. Should the team commit to a fair market value contract with veteran RB Kyren Williams, or roll the dice that future runners will be just as effective? That is a topic, and decision, for another day.

For now, let NFL headlines be filled with articles about Rams RB Eric Dickerson, Eagles RB Saquon Barkley, and whether it's more important to shatter records or simply compete in the postseason. That decision is for others to decide.

When Rams RB Eric Dickerson set the single-season rushing record in 1983, that record seemed unbreakable. Now? It is in peril of being broken. And it's now the bar for elite running backs to aim for in the future. Saquon Barkley will revive the market for NFL running backs in the future. But Rams legendary running back Eric Dickerson has defined why Saquon Barkley, and all NFL running backs, are still valuable.

As always, thank you for reading.

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