How to tell if rookie running backs good enough to warrant 1 more on Rams roster

3 Con arguments

The Los Angeles Rams have plenty of offensive weapons. That has not always resulted in everyone getting involved in the offense. The Rams tend to fixate on a select few players, and that allows opposing defenses to key on those frequent flyers. That has been true of the wide receivers and tight ends to some extent. But it has been almost exclusively running back Kyren Williams in the past two seasons.

Of course, after the turmoil of trying to re-establish the rushing offense after RB Todd Gurley, it's not such a bad thing that Williams has broken the 1000+ rushing yards barrier for the past two consecutive seasons. But if the team plans to get the best out of Kyren Williams in the postseason, the team has to do a better job of getting other running backs involved. That won't come easily, and here's why:

(3) - Rams shed anyone taller than 5-foot-9

The Rams running back room looks like cast members of a Star Wars: Clone Wars movie. They are the same size, weight, speed, and running style. It's not as if the Rams front office is stuck in a rut. But no matter who the team adds, ultimately they are cut as the team pares down to the 53-man roster. And more often than not, they do not return on the practice squad.

Perhaps that is why the team carried four running backs of the same size, speed, and style on the Rams roster last season? Whatever the reasons, the team appears to fixate on a very specific type of running back for this team. No matter how hard or often the front office tries to change that, the team eventually sheds any player who does not adhere to those rigid standards.

(2) - Rams never gave rookie RB Blake Corum meaningful snaps

The Los Angeles Rams chose Michigan rookie running back Blake Corum with the 83rd overall pick in Round 3 of the 2024 NFL Draft. He was the third player chosen by the Rams last year, and arrived with a sensational entourage of NFL analysts, Final Fantasy Football analysts, and even some NFL Insiders who were quick to anoint Corum as a 1000+ yards rusher last season.

Corum could only must 207 rushing yards.

I don't think that is a problem with Corum's mechanics. I suspect that the Rams finally got hot about the time that the team grew comfortable enough with Blake Corum to expand his role. But why fix it if it isn't broken?

Still, the pecking order for 2025 is already established. Even if chosen in Round 1, how much work will the team give to a rookie running back with two or more veteran running backs ahead of him on the depth chart?

(1) - What can a rookie RB add to a room of four veterans?

While the team has shied away from bigger backs or faster backs, the team has carried four veteran running backs on the roster for the entirety of 2024. That gives plenty of exposure to the coaches to determine what they do, and do not, like about the players. Yet the team never deviated with a different size, speed, or style of running back.

If the team stays consistent, then any new addition has to fight through competing with four players just to get any amount of playing time. If the team deviates from the cookie cutter running backs, why insist on such a rigid, similar type of running back throughout the 2024 season?

Had the team not extended Ronnie Rivers, perhaps the team would have an opportunity to find a third rotational running back in the draft. But with Kyren Williams, Blake Corum, Ronnie Rivers, and Cody Schrader already in place. you have to wonder if any new face will get any carries in 2025.