3 reasons why Rams will split RB Kyren Williams and Blake Corum touches evenly

While the LA Rams can expect a hostile crowd on the road at Ford Field to face the Detroit Lions in the 2024 Sunday Night Football debut, the fans may take it a bit easy on one player on the Rams roster. No, I'm not talking about veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Lions fans not only had no welcome mat out for him but some unruly fans even went so far as to barrage Stafford's wife Kelly, and their four daughters, with unacceptable boos and harsh treatment.

I don't think that was a wise move.

Rather, I'm talking about former Michigan star running back Blake Corum, a young man selected by the Rams to spell feature running back Kyren Williams in 2024. So here we are in 2024, and we have yet to know how the offense will split the workload.

If 2023 is a clue, then we can speculate that the offense will split the carries between Kyren Williams and Blake Corum somewhat evenly. For the 2023 season opener, RB Cam Akers carried the football 22 times, while his backup Kyren Williams carried the football 15 times.

This season, the distribution will be similar. So the next question is: Why?

(3) - Gotta get a return on investing in rookie workhorse

The LA Rams hopefully thought this through. Investing in a Round 3 pick to add a running back suggests more than adding a depth player to the bench. At least, that is what fans hope to be the case here. After all, the team is eager to put the guy on the football field. This game is a bit of a homecoming for Blake Corum, a return to the state of Michigan.

You can bet that the Rams are eager to put the NFL at large on notice that RB Blake Corum is going to factor into this offense in a productive way. As such, this will be a bit of an audition of sorts for Corum. If Blake Corum does well, more snaps and carries will be coming his way.

(2) - More to story of Kyren Williams returning punts

While we know that Kyren Williams started 2023 as the team's put returner for three weeks before his featured running back role necessitated a change to reassign the role to WR Austin Trammell, his reclaiming that role in 2024 is a bit, mysterious. Williams is still the featured running back. And it was that fact that necessitated his removal as the primary punt returner in 2023.

So why restore him now? Is there no other backup running back or wide receiver up to the task?

And yet, in thinking about this season, it could be that the plan is to even the workload to both Williams and Corum gives the team an option to reinstall Williams as the punt returner. Otherwise, this all makes less sense.

(1) - Red zone offense reworked

The LA Rams fell two points shy of beating the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card Round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs, but you need look no further than no touchdowns in three red zone appearances to learn the cause of that outcome. And yet, it was that 0-for-3 Red Zone performance that may have driven the team to draft RB Blake Corum.

Some believe that RB Blake Corum could be a steal of the 2024 NFL Draft.

He scored 27 touchdowns in 2023 for the Michigan Wolverines. In his last two seasons, he scored 45 rushing touchdowns. The guy knows how to find the end zone. Hopefully, the Rams will have plenty of opportunities to see what he can do in the NFL in the red zone offense. I suspect that he will get plenty of chances if the offense can get within the 20-yard line.

This offense has two runners who are capable of putting up 100+ yards in any given game, as well as scoring multiple touchdowns. I don't see the team making an either or decision just yet, not when both options can be equally effective.

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