Lions and Bucs accomplished something Rams failed to do in 2024

When it comes to the most proficient offenses, the Los Angeles Rams are no longer leading the pack. That's right, the Rams offense is no longer one of the top scorers in the NFL. That title for 2024 falls to the Detroit Lions (33.2 points per game, Buffalo Bills (30.9 points per game), Baltimore Ravens (30.5 points per game), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (29.5 points per game), or the Washington Commanders (28.5 points per game.

Three of the Top Five NFL offenses boast a dual-threat quarterback. That means that their quarterbacks were capable of pulling the football down and running as effectively as an NFL running back. The Buffalo Bills had QB Josh Allen, who rushed for 531 yards. The Baltimore Ravens had QB Lamar Jackson, who rushed for 915 yards. The Washington Commanders had rookie QB Jayden Daniels, who rushed for 891 yards. The Rams are never going to get veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford to rush for 500+ yards in an NFL season.

But when it came to the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they did not have the benefit of a dual-threat quarterback. The Lions had former Rams QB Jared Goff, who only rushed for 56 yards all season. The Bucs had former Rams QB Baker Mayfield, who rushed a respectable 376 yards, but that was only good enough for third-best on the team. So they didn't benefit from a fleet-footed QB. So how did they managed to score at will?

Closer inspection reveals that the Lions had two solid rushers in second-year RB Jahmyr Gibbs (1,412 yards, 16 TDs) and veteran RB David Montgomery (775 yards, 12 TDs). Hmm. So they accomplished the same effect with two running backs as the dual-threat QBs on their respective teams. They had two dangerous running backs. Was that two-running back threat replicated in the Buccaneers offense?

It certainly was., The Buccaneers got a monster season out of rookie RB Bucky Irving (1,122 yards, 8 TDs) with third-year RB Rachaad White (613 yards, 3 TDs)

So high-scoring NFL offenses have some characteristics that seem to be shared by all. Is this a blanket factor for all? That is, if other NFL teams can manage to accomplish two successful rushers in the backfield, does that automatically mean more points on the scoreboard?

I don't think that it's as simple as that. After all, there is the task of blocking schemes, running lanes, offensive line proficiency at run blocking, and even the pattern of play calling that sets up the defense to be more vulnerable to running plays.

Rams missed a golden opportunity in 2024

The proof of offense proficiency in 2024 seems to correlate to an offense that has not one but two running threats in the backfield. Whether that second-place rusher is a quarterback or running back seems to hold little in the way of consequences. The common factor in all five top-scoring offenses in 2024 is the presence of a second rusher in the offense who could put up at least 500+ rushing yards.

Despite the valuable investment in rookie running back Blake Corum with the 83rd overall pick in Round 3 of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Rams offense failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity to match the other top scoring offenses in 2024. The Rams offense rushed 450 times in 2024. Corum was entrusted to rush just 56 times for 207 yards. That's just not going to cut it.

The Lions rushed 534 times in 2024, and split the load between Jahmyr GIbbs (250 carries) and David Montgomery (185 carries). The same can be said of the Buccaneers, a team that rushed 483 times in 2024. They split their carries between Bucky Irving (207 carries) and Rachaad White (144 carries).

The Rams distribution of carries was so lopsided that defenses were able to plan to stop RB Kyren Williams alone. The Rams handed the football off to Williams 316 times, to Corum getting just 56 carries.

To opposing defenses, Corum had the same style, size, and feel of the Rams featured rusher in Kyren Williams. Williams stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 202 pounds. Corum stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 210 pounds. Slight differences, sure. But when running into a defensive line, neither is going to rush through many tackles or move the pile.

In examining the top NFL offenses and comparing them to the Rams offense, one of these things is not like the other. What could it be?

Blake Corum has to have a larger role in the offense in 2025

The Rams seem to have a pattern of disconnects from drafting offensive weapons on draft day to football field production. The pattern may have been there before 2020, but the 2020 NFL Draft is when I first started to notice the disparity.

Let's run down the offensive weapons who were drafted by the team with valuable picks, and their ultimate contribution to the team:

• 2020 - 52nd pick - RB Cam Akers - 1,443 yards | 10 TDs (5 years)
• 2020 - 57th pick - WR Van Jefferson - 1,449 yards | 10 TDs (4 years)
• 2021 - 57th pick - WR Tutu Atwell - 1,343 yards | 4 TDs (4 years)
• 2021 - 141st pick - TE/WR Jacob Harris - 6 yards | 0 TDs (3 years)
• 2024 - 83rd pick - RB Blake Corum - 207 rushing yards | 0 TDs

The Rams are projected to let WR Tutu Atwell explore signing with a new team due to an expired contract. That means that the team will have used three Round 2 picks and one Round 4 pick in recent NFL drafts with next to nothing to show for it. And the team's selection of RB Blake Corum is horrendously falling smack dab in the middle of the same pattern.

Can something be done? Let's hope so. As miraculously as the front office seems to be on Day 3 in finding vital offensive standouts like RB Kyren Williams (Round 5), WR Puka Nacua (Round 5) and the potential upside of WR Jordan Whittington (Round 6), there is just as must lack of return when the team has invested in offensive skill players earlier in the draft.

The Rams must generate valuable returns from investing in offensive skill players in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Rams' decision to trade away WR Cooper Kupp places the wide receiver room on life support. The team is now projected to lose:

• Cooper Kupp - 710 yards | 6 touchdowns
• Demarcus Robinson - 505 yards | 7 touchdowns
• Tutu Atwell - 562 yards | 0 touchdowns
• Tyler Johnson - 291 yards | 1 touchdown

That is a tremendous amount of offensive production to make up for in one season and takes an offense that struggled to score points and forces it into a far deeper deficit simply to reestablish par for last season.

While the Rams cannot expect any single player to make up the difference single-handedly, the team has to get past the hesitancy to give young offensive skill players a chance to prove themselves in this offense. I believe that both Blake Corum and WR Jordan Whittington can be significant contributors in this offense in 2025.

Now the team has to give them both the opportunity to prove that they can.

As always, thanks for reading.

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