LA Rams give Saints more to worry about with their latest roster move
By Bret Stuter
A sneaky successful receiver
While the Rams have toggled back and forth between running RB Kyren Williams or RB Royce Freeman in the past four games, defenses know that the Rams will not pass to Freeman. And LA Rams head coach Sean McVay has been openly frustrated at times due to Freeman's less than stellar ability to pick up defenders who are bearing down on QB Matthew Stafford.
And so, defenses have quickly realized that whenever Freeman lines up in the Rams backfield to anticipate the run.
Defenses have no such telltale clues when RB Kyren Williams lines up in the backfield. Not only has Williams caught 30 of 46 passes thrown his way for 192 yards and three touchdowns, but Williams is a solid blocker in the Rams backfield. It's no surprised to see Williams stop a defender dead in his tracks, giving his quarterback, Matthew Stafford, enough time to get the pass off.
While RB Ronnie Rives has not had nearly as many passes thrown his way as Williams, he certainly has made the best of the situation whenever he becomes a receiver. Rivers has caught all four passes thrown his way for 18 yards.
That may not sound or read like much, but it's four pass plays that resulted in positive yards. In a game of inches, those receptions can mean the difference between winning and losing. Even better than that, Rivers presence keeps defenders on their toes, as they cannot cheat in favor of stopping the run. That added dimension keeps the Rams offense satisfactorily balanced, while allowing for the team to do a better job of managing Kyren Williams's workload.