Kyren Williams ended up being one of the breakout running backs in football, finishing third in the NFL in rushing yards and tied for seventh in rushing touchdowns. Williams rushed for 1,144 yards and 12 touchdowns despite playing just 12 games.
The Los Angeles Rams drafted Blake Corum in the third round, needing a No. 2 running back behind Williams. Turns out, Corum is going to be much more than a backup.
"A lot of people have said he's similar (to Williams)," Rams general manager Les Snead said about Corum, via the Rams YouTube channel. "They have a very similar play style. They both really, really care about football. That's very important on that side of the ball. That's a sophisticated side of the ball.
"We're a relatively advanced, veteran offense, so you definitely are going to need to bring a care factor to be able to get up to speed and be able to function and fit right in and keep the thing humming."
Corum has experience carrying the run game, having 649 carries for Michigan over the last three years. He rushed for 3,660 yards and 56 touchdowns in that stretch, showcasing he can carry the workload should Williams go down.
Even if Williams doesn't go down, the Rams want to make sure their star back has good tread on his tires. Williams was the first NFL player in 86 years to rank in the top three in rushing despite missing four games. The last player to accomplish this feat was Bull Karcis, who did it in 1937 with the Pittsburgh Pirates (Karcis missed five games that year).
William sand Corum is the future 1-2 punch in Los Angeles. This is what the Rams want going forward, thinking ahead with the long season.
"It's a tough league; it's a 17-game season plus playoffs, might go to 18 games one day. So we always felt like we needed to have as many quality runners as possible so we don't just totally run down Kyren," Snead said. "And we have one or two, or even three guys that can contribute, keep everyone fresh, and let's go and try to impose our will."
