How Cooper Kupp's return could create far-reaching impacts to the Rams roster

RBs Blake Corum/Ronnie Rivers

I don't mean to sound like a broken record, skipping back to the same old stanza, but the LA Rams invested their 83rd overall pick in Round 3 of the 2024 NFL Draft to select Michigan RB Blake Corum. That's a pretty valuable draft pick to get just 13 carries and 53 rushing yards out of the guy in the first five games. Like many young players, how can the guy learn to handle any level of workload in the NFL with those crumbs? Let's break it down to just 2.6 carries and 10.6 yards per game.

Veteran RB Ronnie Rives is not better with just 10 carries and 51 rushing yards so far.

Kupp's return will squelch the team's interest in running the football. The offense loves to count on Kupp late in the game, and every defensive coordinator in the NFL knows it. So any hope of getting carries to the team's other running backs is about to take a plunge off a deep cliff. Unfortunately, the team needs to continue to emphasize other running backs. This offense tends to stick with the same player stubbornly, and Kyren Williams is every bit as injury prone as Cooper Kupp.

Investing in carries with other running backs not only helps to extend the durability of Williams, but it sets the offense up to succeed if the team must pivot to alternative options in case of injury. And it's brutally obvious that the offense has to establish some other running back on the team as capable of scoring in the Red Zone beside Williams.

The Rams were not forced to select Blake Corum, and to be quite honest, I was very surprised that the team chose any running back so early in the 2024 NFL Draft. And my reasons for that surprise have played out. The Rams hesitate to use rookies in this offense, particularly ones who are selected early in the draft. As a result, the team fails to leverage the inherent advantages of that inexpensive talent in the offense.