RB Kyren Williams was the most-used back in 2024, playing in over 81% of the team’s snaps. Surprisingly, this was actually a decrease from his usage in 2023. While Williams has earned those carries by finishing in the top 10 for rushing yards the last two seasons, there’s no way around the fact that wear and tear of that much output could potentially add up quickly. However, LA may not have to worry about that in 2025 with the emergence of second-year running back Blake Corum.
Over the past two weeks,
Corum has seen an uptick in usage and has been very effective with those carries. In fact, versus the Colts this past weekend, Williams finished with 13 carries and played 68% of the snaps (both season lows) while Corum had nine carries and played on 29.3% of snaps (both season highs).
Williams usage the past two years has been a point of contention among some Rams fans after they watch former All-Pro running back Todd Gurley go from arguably the best offensive player in the league to a shell of himself in the span of three years. While it’s never been fully confirmed, many believe Gurley’s knee deterioration was due to the over 750 carries he took from 2017-2019 with no real backup relief. In both 2017 and 2018, Gurley accounted for about 75% of the Rams snaps according to Pro-Football-Reference. To put it in perspective, that’s still 6% less than Williams’ 81% last year.
Corum taking a larger cut of the carries not only mixes up the attack on the field, but more importantly, could play a factor in extending the longevity of Williams career. Head coach Sean McVay has talked about getting both running backs involved in each game, and Week 4 looked like the most even split between the two.
Now to be clear, this is not a situation where there’s much worry about Williams being overtaken by Corum, especially given his recent three-year $33 million dollar extension. McVay has also touched on this, saying that he would be “disciplined” about his two running backs involvement in the game plan but would be sticking with Williams, and not riding the hot hand, while also making sure Corum is getting his touches as well.
“Certainly, if there’s a hot hand, I think that’s something that the situation dictates but I think we do want to try to be disciplined in making sure that there’s a lot of trust in both of those guys to be able to play and not be shortsighted in the moment,” McVay said. “One of my favorite things about Kyren Williams is he’s at his best after a moment where I put him in a terrible position. I don’t think that was his fault at all on the one fumble. You watch his response and his resolve and I thought it was important to give him an opportunity to be able to continue to play through that. He answered the bell in a big way.
“… I think you want to get them both involved. I thought yesterday was good. I think it’s important to understand if there’s a hot hand, you go with it. It’s also important to be able to get both guys involved.”
Williams arrival as the starting tailback in 2023 completely turned around a floundering rushing attack that had not seen a 1,000 yard rusher since 2018. After taking over the top running back position on the team just over two years ago, Williams has since put together 2,746 yards rushing and 27 rushing touchdowns. During that same time frame, he ranks third for most rushing yards (behind only Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley) and fourth in rushing touchdowns (behind only Henry, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery).
The Los Angeles Rams have a long history of Hall of Fame caliber running backs, with names like Dickerson, Faulk, Jackson and Gurley coming to mind immediately. Williams is trying to etch his name in with the greats, and by getting less carries, he may just have a longer career to do so.
