McVay: Corum will be ‘big factor’ in offense

“I would say he’s a lot leaner for sure, he looks a lot more explosive,” was Williams’ exact quote. The Rams’ in-house reporters claim “that explosiveness has been on display all camp.” A disappointing 2024 rookie, Corum successfully earned a 1B role as a sophomore and is pushing for more. It’s still difficult to believe he could crack the top 24 at running back in fantasy, but it is possible he continues to cut into Williams’ top-18 value. Williams and Corum’s workload split will be one of September’s most intriguing early-season storylines.

Back on May 1st, Atkins predicted Rams coach Sean McVay would deploy starting RB Kyren Williams and Corum in a 50-50 split, with Williams operating as the “primary third-down back and between-the-tackles runner,” while Corum functions as “a change-of-pace option with explosive capabilities.” With spring workouts complete, Atkins is doubling down with minor clarifications. Corum has made strides as a pass protector and receiver, and could “earn more playing time in an offense that wants to blur the run and the pass,” but Williams still remains the superior passing game player and should out-snap Corum because of this. Williams’ “consistency and short-yardage skills” could also keep him on the field in goal-line situations. Williams posted a 259/1,252/10 rushing line while Corum went for 145/746/6. Atkins thinks the two backs could split carries almost 50-50, which would seemingly make a 1,000-yard season doable for Corum. However, Corum’s ceiling outcome is limited if Williams indeed remains the primary player on passing downs and in goal-line situations.

Rams veteran RB Kyren Williams is expected to be the “primary third-down back and between-the-tackles runner,” which could get him most of the high-value touches. Atkins did not address whether Corum will get a chance to compete for the two-minute drill role, though. That would be big for him. If Corum does manage to take on half of the backfield touches, though, that should be enough to keep him in the low-end RB2, thanks in part to the Rams’ high-scoring offense.

Atkins still expects Williams to be the starter. Playing on third down and in the two-minute drill gives running backs an edge in PPR formats. Atkins did not specify which back will play in the latter scenario, but we imagine Williams will get the first crack at the gig. If Williams is also set to be the interior runner, it likely means he gets the first chance in the red zone. He out-snapped No. 2 RB Blake Corum in the red zone, 26-6, during the playoffs last year. That said, losing touches to the point of a 50-50 split hurts his upside.

Corum took a major step forward in his second season, establishing himself as a weekly threat for 10 touches in a good offense. The rushing line improved from 58/207/0 to 145/756/6, and he had 13.3 rushing EPA to Kyren Williams’ 0.4. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Corum’s role has no real room to grow without an injury to Williams, as Williams signed a long-term extension in August that tied him to the Rams for the near-term future. It leaves Corum as more of an RB3 searching for paths to weekly relevancy. Unless Corum suddenly falls into a Zach Charbonnet-esque red zone role, he’ll be hard to start most weeks in 2026.

It was yet another game where the Rams struggled on the ground, but where Williams’ touchdown-catching prowess was enough to keep him in the scorebook as he got lost on a mesh concept near the end zone. Williams lost his volume back role this year as the Rams gradually started introducing more Blake Corum to the offense in October. He wound up playing 68 percent of the snaps on the season, but it was 63 percent after Week 6. He made up for it by scoring eight touchdowns down the stretch. With a long-term contract secured, there’s no reason Williams can’t be a reasonable RB2 in 2026 — just don’t draft him with the idea that he’s a true volume back.

Corum has been a fairly safe bet to see double-digit touches this season, but the second-year back was held to just six carries on Sunday and has now seen that total twice in his last three games. The fact that he averaged a meager 3.2 YPC on those carries gave even greater reason for the Rams not trust him too much in Sunday’s do-or-die game. Corum could see his volume bounce back in next weeks Conference Championship road game against the Seahawks, but we would expect Kyren Williams to continue to handle the majority of the work after back-to-back solid performances this post season.

Williams found the end zone twice in this one. The fourth-year back punched in a four-yard score on the Rams’ opening possession to give his team an early 7-0 lead, and later found the end zone on a five-yard run in the fourth quarter to break a 10-10 tie. Williams never found much room to run in this one, with his longest runs coming on two 10-yard gains. The Rams didn’t truly lean on Williams until late in the game, as 14 of his 21 carries came in the fourth quarter or overtime, but his two scoring plays more than made up for his rather pedestrian total on the ground. Williams will face another tough test in next week’s NFC Championship Game when he goes on the road to face a stout Seahawks defense that held him to 23-70-0 on the ground the last time the two teams met.

He didn’t score, but Corum went over 10 carries for the fifth time in six games. Neither Corum or Williams found much running room in this one without guard Kevin Dotson, with Corum getting the Rams’ long rushing gain of eight yards. Corum should be involved in the Divisional Round fantasy discussion but is clearly a 1B back looking for a favorable situation to emerge over the next 36 hours.

Williams’ angle route in the fourth quarter put the Rams back in front in the fourth quarter. The Rams didn’t really do a great job of establishing the run with Kevin Dotson out, and Williams continued to split carries with Blake Corum while out-snapping him 47-28 per the early PFF charting data. Williams will be part of the high-end RB conversation in Divisional Round DFS and Playoff Best Ball next week.