Throughout much of the Sean McVay era, it wasn’t abnormal to see rookies not get opportunities early in their careers. As second-round wide receivers, Van Jefferson and Tutu Atwell barely played as rookies.
In Jefferson’s case, he only had 19 receptions. Darrell Henderson was a third-round pick and only saw 39 carries as a rookie despite Todd Gurley managing his knee. In 2020, Cam Akers didn’t see back-to-back games with 10 or more carries until Week 13 and 14 of his rookie year.
It’s fair to point out that those Rams teams were in a different place. They had experience at those positions, allowing for a “red shirt” type season from their rookies. From 2018-2022, it was rarer for a Rams rookie to have an impact than not. Those years were much more about building up the roster depth than needing to find immediate impact starters.
However, when 2023 and 2024 came, the Rams needed to rely on their rookies more. The 2023 draft class is arguably the best of the Les Snead era. Without a first-round pick, the Rams selected Steve Avila, Byron Young, Kobie Turner, and Puka Nacua. All four of those players were immediate starters. Last year, the Rams added Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, and Kam Kinchens who also had major roles early in their careers.
With the Rams needing to reset and clear their salary cap, they were forced to rely on young players and rookies over the last two seasons. Those players were a major reason for their success as Nacua and Verse became stars and others proved to be complementary pieces at worst.
Heading into 2025, the Rams once again entered a spot in which building up the roster depth became a priority. Following two seasons in which rookies starred on the roster, the team’s best rookie, Josaiah Stewart, is currently playing just 31 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. In Stewart’s case, his snap count makes sense as he is the third player in a talent-heavy edge rotation.
At the end of the day, the Rams are 3-2 and a handful of plays from being 5-0. If Joshua Karty’s kick doesn’t get blocked against the Philadelphia Eagles and Kyren Williams scores instead of fumbling at the one-yard line, conversations around personnel likely don’t happen. With that said, the Rams are 3-2 and it’s fair to wonder if the Rams trusted some of their youth in key spots, they might be better off for it.
The Rams drafted Terrance Ferguson in the second round and he has four snaps on offense. His lone catch was a contested one on 3rd-and-4 that resulted in a first down. Ferguson has been inactive twice this season as a second round pick that the Rams reportedly would have considered 26th overall. Ferguson showed in his lone opportunity that he can be counted on to make a play. The question then becomes, why is he not getting more opportunities?
This isn’t just an issue with Ferguson. While Blake Corum is on pace for 81 carries this season, besting last season’s 58, there have been games in which he simply hasn’t been used. The Rams drafted Corum as a complement to Kyren Williams. However, Williams ranks fourth in the NFL with a 66.7 percent share of the Rams’ rushing attempts. That’s higher than Christian McCaffrey who is the engine of the San Francisco 49ers offense.
It should not be seen as a coincidence that the Rams’ three best rushing games have come when Kyren Williams and Blake Corum have combined for 20 or more rushing attempts. In those games, Williams and Corum have averaged 4.9 yards per carry, 0.79 rushing yards over expected per attempt, and had a 51.4 percent success rate.
In Week 2 when Williams had a 35.3 percent success rate, Corum picked up the run game with 8.8 yards per carry. In Week 4 when Corum had a 22.2 percent success rate, Williams picked up the run game with 5.9 yards per carry. Williams has two games this season with 4.5 yards per carry and a success rate over 50 percent. In both of those games, Corum had more than five carries. Williams’ worst game this season came in Week 1 when Corum only got one carry.
So much is made about younger players needing to gain trust in the McVay offense, whether it’s in pass protection or blocking. However, how are players meant to prove that they can be trusted when they don’t get opportunities to show that they can?
There also seems to be somewhat of a double standard. When Corum was unable to haul in the toss play against the 49ers, the Rams running back didn’t see another carry the rest of the game. In fact, Corum played just six offensive snaps despite playing 10 or more snaps in nine of his last 10 games. That was after Corum’s first carry went for 13 yards. Meanwhile, after Williams fumbled, the Rams went right back to him, including giving him the ball with the game on the line on 4th-and-1.
Another situation could arise on Sunday when the Rams go to a “trusted” veteran player over a young player who could provide more upside. Omar Speights is likely to be doubtful in Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens. During roster cutdowns, the Rams kept Troy Reeder. At the time, defensive coordinator Chris Shula said, “He’s a guy that we can trust. We’ve obviously got Landman and Omar as our top two guys, but if god forbid anything happened, he’s the guy that could just seamlessly go in.”
When Landman momentarily left the game against the 49ers, it was Reeder who took his spot. It should be assumed that Reeder would play for Speights if needed to do so. However, the Rams signed undrafted free agent Shuan Dolac following the draft. Dolac has done nothing but impress over the offseason. Dolac impressed so much so that the team cut its fifth-round pick at linebacker in order to keep him.
Last season, the Rams started the year with Reeder at linebacker next to Christian Rozeboom. It wasn’t until Reeder got hurt that the Rams replaced him with Speights and were better off for it. It seems that the Rams could make the same mistake and play Reeder over Dolac against the Ravens for the sake of experience.
With so much on the line in the NFL, it makes sense that a coaching staff would want younger players to prove themselves before giving them opportunities. Still, over the last two seasons, the Rams have been a beneficiary of younger players outperforming expectations and proving themselves on the field on Sundays.
Heading into 2025, the Rams made some decisions that would raise their floor. It’s why they signed Coleman Shelton and didn’t draft a rookie at cornerback, instead opting to trust experience in Darious Williams and Ahkello Witherspoon. However, in raising the floor, the Rams also lowered their ceiling in some ways. While young players can bring inconsistency, that variation in outcomes may also be what the Rams need to take the next step.
