Injuries kept Evans off the field too often in college, but he did some really special things when he was able to play. He averaged 129 yards from scrimmage per game and scored six touchdowns in six games as a 19-year-old sophomore at TCU. And he averaged 6.9 yards per carry across 290 carries in his college career, including 6.5 YPC in his final season at Ole Miss. If Evans can get healthy, he has a real chance to push Kyren Williams for the RB2 job and perhaps even take a little work off Cam Akers' plate. For now, he's no more than a late-round dart throw in redraft, but he's worthy of consideration in Round 2 of rookie drafts.
Evans rushed three times for six yards during Sunday's 37-14 victory against the Cardinals.
Evans managed to keep his spot on the roster over Darrell Henderson with Kyren Williams returning, but Evans' touches once again were uninspiring, and for the year he has a paltry 16 yards rushing on eight attempts. His three rushing attempts were also his only three snaps taken in the game, a far cry from the 41 of Williams and 23 of Royce Freeman. Evans will continue to be the tertiary option in the run game for the Rams barring a few injuries, and a matchup against a stout Browns defense doesn't inspire confidence for a Week 13 breakout.
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Rams' Zach Evans: Healthy scratch against Cowboys
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Evans (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Cowboys.
When Kyren Williams (ankle) and Ronnie Rivers (knee) went down, it was expected that Evans would see an expanded role in the backfield. Instead, he played zero offensive snaps in Week 7 and is now a healthy scratch. Darrell Henderson and Royce Freeman figure to be the primary running backs, while Myles Gaskin will join them among active players in what will likely be a special-teams-centric role.
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Rams' Zach Evans: No offensive snaps
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Evans took four snaps on special teams during Sunday's 24-17 loss to the Steelers.
The Rams chose to lean on Royce Freeman (12-66-0) and Darrell Henderson (18-61-1) to spearhead the rushing attack, while Evans made only a few appearances on special teams and never saw a snap on offense. The sixth-round rookie will likely have even more competition for playing time next week, as Myles Gaskin, who just signed with the Rams on Tuesday, was inactive against Pittsburgh. It's hard to see a viable role in the short term for Evans with the glut of backs added to the roster, and a matchup against a Cowboys defense that just held Austin Ekeler and the Chargers to 53 yards rushing in Week 6 doesn't inspire confidence in a sudden breakout performance.
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Rams' Zach Evans: Looks set to remain backup Week 7
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Evans is expected to serve as a backup option behind Royce Freeman and Darrell Henderson in Sunday's game against the Steelers, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.
While he was active for just the second time all season in last week's win over the Cardinals, Evans picked up his first NFL carries late in the contest once Kyren Williams (ankle) and Ronnie Rivers (knee) went down with injuries. Even though Williams and Rivers have since been moved to injured reserve and are set to miss at least the Rams' next four games, Evans doesn't look like he'll be in line to climb to the top of the depth chart, as the Rams reportedly believe the rookie sixth-round pick out of Ole Miss needs more time to learn the offense and acclimate to the NFL. Though he's still expected to be active over the recently signed Myles Gaskin on Sunday, Evans looks like he'll be ticketed for the No. 3 role while practice-squad imports Freeman and Henderson are first in line for work. Schefter relays that Freeman is likely to start, but how the Steelers defense lines up as well as how Freeman and Henderson fare will dictate which of the two leads the backfield in the weeks to come while Williams and Rivers are on the mend. Evans is expected to be "sprinkled in" to the backfield rotation Sunday, per Schefter, but the 22-year-old appears unlikely to get more than a handful of touches.
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Rams' Zach Evans: Sit Him (Lineup Decisions)
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Any Rams RB is a massive gamble this week given the uncertainty of who will play when and the matchup itself. And I would expect Henderson to eventually be the main RB once the coaches are comfortable with his conditioning. And ... it all won't matter in, hopefully, four weeks when Williams comes back and resumes his role. I would also guess Stafford attempts about 50 passes. I would not start Evans, Freeman, Henderson or Gaskin unless totally desperate, but that would be the order I would use them in unless we get word before the game of a different scenario.
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Rams' Zach Evans: Could get starting nod Week 7
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Evans appears to be first in line to serve as the Rams' starting running back Sunday against the Steelers with Kyren Williams (ankle) and Ronnie Rivers (knee) trending toward multi-game absences, Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com reports. "Obviously you saw Zach Evans get the first carries [after Williams and Rivers exited Sunday's 26-9 win over the Cardinals]," McVay said Monday. "We've got Royce Freeman on our practice squad, and there'll be some different things that we're in the midst of working through right now."
The Rams have since signed Freeman to the roster and also re-signed Darrell Henderson -- who appeared in 50 games with the team from 2019 through 2022 -- to replace Freeman on the practice squad. Additionally, the Rams signed Myles Gaskin off the Vikings' practice squad, leaving him, Evans and Freeman as the team's likely backfield options for at least Week 7. Gaskin and Freeman both have more extensive NFL experience than Evans, a sixth-round pick out of Ole Miss, but the rookie was active for the last two games over Freeman, who stayed on the practice squad in Weeks 5 and 6. Evans gained a modest 10 yards on his four carries in the fourth quarter this past Sunday, but he was a blue-chip recruit coming out of high school and an efficient runner during his time in college (career 6.9 yards per carry). He could end up serving as the Rams' lead option on the ground against the Steelers while Freeman and/or Gaskin handle change-of-pace duties. The possibility also exists that McVay could opt for more of a committee approach with two or three of the backs sans Williams and Rivers, making Evans a risky lineup option for Week 7. Even so, since he's less of a known commodity than NFL journeymen like Freeman and Gaskin, Evans probably represents the most intriguing waiver-wire pickup of the lot.
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Rams' Zach Evans: Week 7 Adds (RB Preview)
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Evans only has four NFL carries, but with both Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers injured in Week 6, the rookie looks like the Rams' starting running back in Week 7. The Steelers have surrendered the sixth-most Fantasy points to opposing running backs, so Evans is a top-24 running back despite his experience. He did average 6.5 yards per carry at Ole Miss last year, including 207 yards against Arkansas.
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Rams' Zach Evans: Won't make debut
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Evans (coach's decision) is inactive Sunday against the Seahawks.
Evans was able to make the team as the No. 4 running back after getting selected in the sixth round of the 2023 Draft. However, the Ole Miss product will stay on the sidelines Week 1 against Seattle.
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Rams' Zach Evans: Kept on initial roster
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Evans has a spot on the Rams' initial 53-man roster, Stu Jackson of the official team website reports.
Evans is one of four running backs, joined by Cam Akers, Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers. It looks like Evans and Rivers are competing for the No. 3 job, which might mostly entail snaps on special teams to start the season. In any case, Akers remains the lead runner, and Williams seems to have locked down the second spot on the depth chart.
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Rams' Zach Evans: Garners 27 total yards Saturday
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Evans rushed eight times for 20 yards and brought in his only target for seven yards during the Rams' 34-17 preseason loss to the Raiders on Saturday night.
Evans didn't log his first carry until the third quarter but finished just one rush attempt behind backfield mate Ronnie Rivers, who set the pace in that category. The rookie sixth-round pick was more productive on a per-carry basis during his pro debut against the Chargers last week, but Evans appears to have a solid shot of securing a practice squad spot at minimum with his cumulative body of work going into next Saturday night's preseason finale versus the Broncos.
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Rams' Zach Evans: Headed to Los Angeles
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The Rams selected Evans in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 215th overall
Evans was a high level recruit at TCU before transferring to Mississippi, but he was the best running back at neither school, outdone by Kendre Miller at TCU and Quinshon Judkins at Mississippi. Evans consistently produced as a runner despite the modest volume, finishing his three-year career with 1,999 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing on 290 attempts (6.9 YPC). Evans therefore seems to have some amount of innate running ability, but the problem is his poor volume is compounded by mediocre athletic testing. At 5-foot-11, 208 pounds Evans ran a 4.51-second pro day 40, a time that might translate to something closer to a 4.60 at the combine. Evans is someone to monitor closely because of his recruiting pedigree and consistently explosive rushing production, but it's not easy to see how he'll earn immediate playing time with the Rams.
