Why the LA Rams must continue to feed RB Royce Freeman the football

Rams need to keep feeding Royce Freeman the football

Okay, what does this have to do with veteran running back Royce Freeman? Well, simply this. The LA Rams anticipate RB Kyren Williams returning to the Rams active roster this week, and head coach Sean McVay has stated as such. The problem is, what will the Rams do with the hot-handed veteran running back Royce Freeman?

While it did not get a great deal of attention, the key to the LA Rams victory over the Seattle Seahawks is the fact that the Rams began to feed the football to Freeman in the second half. Of course, that occured because Royce Freeman rushed four times for 27 yards in the first half on the final Rams possession that led to the Rams first touchdown. Prior to that series, Freeman carried the football three times for three yards.

Freeman continued to pile up tough yards in the second half of the game, finishing with 17 carries for 73 yards. Now, his teammate Kyren Williams is set to return:

Let's examine how the Rams have used both running backs so far this season:

Notice the pattern? When Kyren Williams was running the football, the Rams did not rush Royce Freeman. So what happens with the LA Rams rushing attack when Kyren Williams returns to the active LA Rams roster? Does the team automatically revert back to running Kyren Williams exclusively?

While RB Kyren Williams has more yards, he had more opportunities in terms of rushes and number of games carrrying the football to get there. And it was clear that against the Seattle Seahawks, running back Royce Freeman got stronger at running the football the longs that game went on.