5 low budget instafixes to get the LA Rams back on victory track

(4) - Blake Corum must get 20+ percent of carries in October

The Rams offense right now, it terms of scoring, is made up of RB Kyren Williams, K Joshua Karty, and all others. All others at the moment have generated just one touchdown in four games, and that score came from WR Cooper Kupp, who is injured and already ruled out of playing in Week 5. So what does that mean for the offense?

Sadly, this is all quite alarming.

Against all conventional wisdom, the Rams offense is routing all rushes through RB Kyren Williams. While even the biggest power backs run the risk of injury in that scenario, Williams has proven to be far less durable. In looking back over his first two seasons in the NFL, we can see ample evidence of injuries that have limited his availability in the past. Now that he is almost entirely this offense's scorer, the team cannot afford to lose him to injury.

And yet, that seems to be the plan.

Williams has carried the football 73 times in four games. Admittedly, that is hardly a rate that leads to burning a player out mid-season. But therein lies the rub. This offense, sans their three top receivers, has been passing at a rate of 58 percent. But eight of the team's rushes were handled by rookie RB Blake Corum in the Week 2 blowout loss at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals. Removing those runs, the depleted Rams aerial assault is still getting 60 percent of the team's offense.

In the lone victory, a Week 3 upset over the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams passed 26 times, and ran 26 times. Ironic, eh?

This team has a long-standing tradition of benching offensive rookies. And yet, when an occasion of injury forces the team to use them, they often perform quite well. In 2023, injury forced the team to play rookie WR Puka Nacua. In 2024, injuries have forced this team to play rookie IOL Beaux Limmer and WR Jorden Whittington. Both are exceeding expectations.

Unless the team abandons this fixation of running Kyren Williams exclusively, defenses will learn to key on him in any Red Zone situation. And until the team gives rookie RB Blake Corum a chance to run the ball, the pattern of sticking with Williams exclusively becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Ramp up the rookie. Start using him on 20 percent of the runs in October. That translates into 19 runs if applied to September. This offense can afford to do so.