While the the Los Angeles Rams offense under Sean McVay is best known for its passing prowess, when the run game exceeds 2000 yards in a season, they have a win percentage of 67 percent over those years.
Last year, L.A. ran for 2152 yards and 17 touchdowns. Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, the legs under those numbers, both return for 2026. So does Jarquez Hunter, a Round 4 pick last year. Hard to believe the Rams will be looking too hard at running backs in this years proceedings. Or it it?
In the
past 10 drafts , an average of 22 running backs have been taken per year. The Rams have selected a running back in nine straight years, only passing back in 2016. Just in case they continue, here’s a look at running backs with draftable grades off my Top 300 Big Board.
Round 1
Jeremiyah Love 6’ 212 lb.
Prototype running back build, explosiveness, and speed. Not a true power guy, but has enough thump and contact balance to run through defenders. Stellar acceleration and long speed. Patient and reads blocks. High-end agility, stop/start and change of direction. Very good receiver. Blocking is just okay.
Round 2
Jadarian Price – Notre Dame 5’11 203 lb.
Fluid and balanced, has natural running back instincts. Vision and feel for developing holes, burst to get through them. Good contact balance and leg drive to break tackles. Has the skillset in any scheme, but has the look of a one-cut zone runner, getting a runway for his burst and long speed. Good blocker and inexperienced as a receiver. Had a Achilles rupture in 2022.
Round 3
Mike Washington – Arkansas 6’1” 223 lb.
Only one year of starting production in three college stops. Muscular frame with stellar athleticism. Decisive, one-cut runner with the burst, strong lower half and foot churn to plow through tackles, the second gear acceleration and long speed to break off big chunk gains. Solid stop/start and change of direction traits. Needs to work on ball security, receiving and blocking.
Jonah Coleman – Washington 5’8” 220 lb.
Bowling ball build. Very similar running style to the Rams Kyren Williams showing vision, contact balance, and low center of gravity. While he can bulldoze, he also makes sharp cuts and tackles slide off just as often as he breaks them. Good receiver on short routes and solid blocker. Not flashy, just an efficient producer. One recorded fumble over his entire college career.
Emmett Johnson Nebraska. 5’10” 202 lb.
Johnson cannot be tagged as a speed or power back. He’s an effort-based prospect running in a hard-nosed style. Plays faster on film than he tested at the NFL Combine. Wins with good vision, contact balance, and oily hips. Cuts and jumps laterally without losing a beat. Puts tacklers at an angle disadvantage and bounces off or powers through. Strong receiving skills as well.
Round 4
Kaytron Allen – Penn State 5’11” 216 lb.
Power-based runner with the instincts to find room. NFL size with thick legs and strong bottom half. Runs low behind his pads with balance. Good patience and vision. Burst and speed are adequate, he’s more of a slasher in open field. His hands appear to be good, but he wasn’t a third down receiving back. Willing blocker, but needs polish. Solid ball security.
Round 5
Demond Claiborne – Wake Forest 5’11” 188 lb.
Small frame, slashing, jitterbug run style and very elusive in the open field. Subtle fakes and feints make it hard for defenders to get a good tackling bead on him. Strong stop/start and change of direction movement. Not much of a blocker, but physical for his size. Did not run sophisticated pass routes. Every touch is a possible big play, he’s that fast and elusive.
Nick Singleton – Penn State 6’ 219 lb.
Nice package of size and speed. Not a true power runner, but has the lower strength to break tackles. Good receiver and willing blocker. Has big play upside, when he gets some runway, he can be off to the races. Probably projects best into an outside zone run scheme. Tight in the hips and ankles, not as explosive when forced to move laterally. A kickoff returner his first three seasons
Seth McGowan – Kentucky 6’ 223 lb.
Polarizing prospect. High ceiling/low floor player. Top-end traits as a runner, vision, burst, physical play style, and long speed, but he couldn’t turn them into explosive plays at the SEC level. Lags as a receiving, blocker, and in ball security. The tools are there, can a team focus them.
Round 6
Jaydn Ott – Oklahoma 5’10” 201 lb.
Kind of a lost season in 2026, transferred to Oklahoma and was nicked up early and never re-climbed the depth chart. Appears best in a mid/outside zone run game. Good vision to follow blocks and explosive burst and speed through holes. At one time was a three-down, high level prospect, can he re-gain his focus?
Chip Trayanum – Toledo 5’10” 224 lb.
Powerful, compact build with thick thighs. Good athlete, 9.62 RAS score. Downhill runner with juice. Presses the line and shows patience waiting for blocks, good burst under control, and has second gear. Former linebacker, very physical game. His traits and innate feel for finding space are coveted. Played special teams early in career.
Le’Veon Moss – Texas A&M 5’11” 203 lb.
Versatile to any scheme. Aggressive between the tackles. North/south one cut runner with good burst burst, contact balance and foot churn. Adequate long speed. Needs work as a blocker and receiver. Been productive when on the field, but missed time in three straight seasons with a hamstring, knee surgery, and an ankle issue.
Round 7
J’Mari Taylor – Virginia 5’10” 199 lb.
Compact build with vision, quick cuts, and short area agility hints that he’s best for an inside/mid zone run scheme. Good short yardage runner, uses his natural low leverage and contact balance A three-down prospect. Although not a complex route tree, Taylor showed strong receiving production and is a willing blocker. Good ball security.
Kaelon Black – Indiana 5’9” 209 lb.
Muscular frame. Not a dancer, but does use jump cuts when looking for holes. Seems to always fall forward, showing natural low center of gravity and contact balance running low and behind his pads. Good ball security and head banger when called on to block. His hands are okay, but hasn’t been a receiving threat.
Roman Hemby – Indiana 6’ 207 lb.
Been following this prospect since his early days at Maryland. Solid, all-around back. Power-based with good contact balance and foot churn. Instincts to find space. Good vision and patience with the requisite acceleration to slip through holes or break outside. Strong ball security, good hands as a receiver, and a willing blocker.
Jam Miller – ‘Bama 5’10” 209 lb.
Blocky build with thick, powerful legs. Stellar speed and burst. Runs behind low pads and shows good contact balance. Presses the line with patience, explosive through gaps, gets north/south and up to speed quickly. Doesn’t have swivel-hips in open field, but makes sharp, slashing cuts. Unproven as a receiver, but a willing blocker.
Adam Randall – Clemson 6’3” 232 lb.
Played wide receiver for three seasons. Nice combination of size and linear speed. North/south runner gets behind his pads. A bit stiff and needs some runway to get going, but he plows through arm tackles and half-hearted tackle attempts. Obviously a solid receiver who understands how to find space, but had drop problems. Special teams past, including returns.
My guys
After Jeremiyah Love, it’s not a particularly talented or deep class. Good year for the Rams to sit one out. Still, L.A. needs a camp body or two for OTAs/preseason and I need a few more words.
I’ve mentioned before that I like Chip Trayanum out of Toledo. He checks all the boxes for an NFL running back, and although he isn’t really elite at any one of them, there’s a steady all-around game o be developed. Ex-linebacker has good film playing for Ohio State, just couldn’t break through. Jam Miller is another late-rounder. Similarly, he does a lot of things well and had some nagging injuries and an offensive line that wasn’t up to Alabama’s usual standards. Both are physical players and have deep special teams experience.
Do you think the Rams should stand pat, add a late-rounder, or take a big swing early?
