Kyren Williams was an absolute workhorse in 2023, rivaling Christian McCaffrey‘s workload when healthy. However, health was a problem, as Williams missed some time during the middle of the season and doesn’t look like a prototypical workhorse back at sub-200 pounds.
Well, Williams won’t have to handle such a heavy load in 2024 since the Rams drafted Blake Corum in the third round. The former Michigan man scored 27 TDs during the Wolverines’ title-winning season and was widely regarded as one of the top-tier backs in this class. How will this pairing fare in fantasy? Let’s dig in.
BLAKE CORUM
Projection: 135.2 carries for 553.6 yards and 3.9 TDs. 16.9 catches on 22.6 targets for 135.1 yards and 0.6 TDs.
- Corum was a powerful touchdown machine in college behind the best offensive line in the country, but he may struggle to win as a power back in the NFL since he’s only 205 pounds. He ran an alright 4.53-second 40-yard dash but dominated the agility drills at the NFL Combine. Scouts love his vision, finishing, and ability to fit through small crevices to gain yards, and his 2023 numbers don’t completely do him justice because he was coming off multiple knee injuries near the end of the 2022 season. Corum figures to be an immediate asset at the pro level.
- In LA, Williams should still be the clear RB1 – Sean McVay‘s love for him has been apparent since two summers ago – but Corum will have a far larger role than what the backups combined for last season. Williams is a smaller back and got hurt in 2023. It doesn’t matter whether that makes it more likely for him to get hurt in the future; all that matters is whether the Rams think he can hold up for an entire season. This pick signifies a desire to alleviate the load on Williams. Corum was an elite goal-line back at Michigan but boasts below-average size for a GL option at the pro level. Williams is also small but had an iron grip on the role last year, so we’ll see if Corum can take away any of the looks from in close. Something to watch for in training camp.
- Corum’s fantasy allure is mostly contingent value. We’ve seen McVay ride his RBs to a truly insane extent in the past. If Williams gets hurt again and Corum gains the trust of the coaching staff, there is a scenario in which Corum posts mid-to-high-end RB1 weeks. Now, that’s quite the parlay with Williams getting hurt and Corum marginalizing the rest of the backups, but it’s certainly within the range of outcomes.
KYREN WILLIAMS
- Williams wasn’t particularly efficient last year and, to be honest, we still don’t have that much evidence that he’s an exceptional talent. From that perspective, the addition of any competent RB is bad news. The trust McVay has in Kyren ensures he will be the starter, and he should maintain his role as the passing-down back. If he remains the goal-line back too, he still has a path to a pretty elite season. We will likely be discussing and fiddling with this backfield over the next week projections-wise, but we currently knocked Williams down to the Round 3 range on Underdog (his ADP pre-draft was early second round).
