8 enticing adventures emerging after 1 week of LA Rams 2024 Training Camp

II: Rams rushing offense is way underestimated

Second-year running back Kyren Williams put up an incredible 2023 season performance. He rushed 228 times for 1,144 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. But there is far more buried in those numbers than just a solid running back. After all, he left a lot of yards on the football field. Well, let me correct that. The Rams left a lot of rushing yards on the football field in 2023.

It started in Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season. If you recall, Williams was the change-of-pace running back behind starting running back Cam Akers. But in Week 1, Williams rushed 15 times for 52 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Akers rushed 22 times for 29 yards and one touchdown. Akers was unhappy to share the workload, was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, and Kyren Williams took over as the featured running back.

But Williams did not get the workload of a featured running back until Week 4, when he rushed 25 times for 103 yards and two touchdowns to lead the team to a win over the Indianapolis Colts. Williams would rush in only nine more games for the Rams in 2023.

In 2024, Williams knows that he is the featured running back. But hot on his heels is rookie running back Blake Corum, who will take on the role of back-up/change-of-pace running back in the Rams offense in 2024. And he is ready to be much more:

But even as Corum is out on the football field, Kyren Williams is not about to roll over for him. Williams is even more effective this year, and he continues to put on a clinic of how to succeed in the NFL. Keep in mind that Williams was the third-best running back in the NFL while playing in only 12 games, and while not putting in a feature running back work load until Week 4.

He has plenty more where that came from.

It's the one-two punch on the ground and in the air that has me very optimistic about this offense. The Rams have Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua as top receivers, Davis Allen and Colby Parkinson at top tight ends, and Kyren Williams and Blake Corum as top running backs. This offense is loaded with duplication for 2024.

And that depth could make this team ideally prepared for success this season.