This LA Rams player hits the field running (literally), and the NFL is paying attention

The LA Rams have not exactly been a stable NFL team when it comes to the running back room. The team opened the 2023 NFL season with five running backs on the roster but with a featured running back named Cam Akers. Akers did not last past the month of September, as he was surrounded with controversy once more. Ultimately, he was traded away to the Minnesota Vikings for nothing.

Next up in the queue was the joint running of RB Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers. They were able to share the workload through the Week 6 victory against the Arizona Cardinals, a game that landed the Rams at 3-3. Unfortunately, both runners were injured and place on IR after that game.

The Rams then signed former RB Darrell Henderson Jr to the team, and signed RB Royce Freeman off the practice squad to rush for the next four games, Three of those games were losses, and took the Rams up to their Week 10 BYE week. But the Rams did win their first game after the BYE against the Seattle Seahawks, which set up the LA Rams for RB Kyren Williams return against the Arizona Cardinals.

Kyren ain't lying

The biggest question on my mind, and perhaps on the minds of other Rams fans, was a matter of how the Rams offense would manage to blend both Kyren Williams and Royce Freeman together in the same offensive backfield. Historically, the Rams have structured the offense around one rusher, and sprinkled in a little bit of another runner to give the feature back a breather.

But the fretting was all for naught. LA Rams RB Kyren Williams did return with a bang, and delivered the knockout punches to a reeling Arizona Cardinals defense that had no answer for him. He gained 143 yards on the ground, and put up another 61 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air, to help lead the Rams to their fifth win of the season:

The effort was so phenomenal that Williams won honors as the NFC Offensive Player for the Week.

Now the question is, can Williams keep up this pace for the final six games? After all, Kyren Williams is just 5-foot-9 and weighs 194 pounds. While he is a feisty and elusive running back for the Rams, this is no time to test the limits of his durability. For tougher runs, and to keep him well rested, the Rams should see to it that RB Royce Freeman gets an even share of the carries. Freeman stands 6-foot-0, weighs 238 pounds, and seems to get stronger as the game wears on.

One of the drawbacks to the LA Rams rushing attack is the fact that it had seemed to be ineffective to Rams head coach Sean McVay. There's no questioning how effective the Rams running is now. So is there more where that came from? Stay tuned . . .