Zach

Evans

It’s a quiet list for a team that already made half of its cuts earlier Tuesday.

No real surprises here as the Rams have enjoyed a season of relative health. The six-seed Rams will look to upset the three-seed Lions on the road in the Wildcard Round.

Evans is a healthy scratch after not seeing a snap in Week 7. The rest of the Rams inactives are OL Rob Havenstein, OLB Nick Hampton, OL Zach Thomas and DL Earnest Brown.

Evans did not play a snap on offense. Royce Freeman and Darrell Henderson split the backfield versus Pittsburgh. With Myles Gaskin entering the mix next week, Evans could be a healthy scratch in Week 8.

Per Schefter, Zach Evans will serve as a backup. Myles Gaskin will be inactive for Week 7 but should have the playbook under his belt by Week 8. Schefter notes that he will likely be active for that game. That means one of the other three backs, likely Freeman or Evans, will not play in Week 8 versus the Cowboys. Freeman and Henderson both have some deep RB3 value this week. Evans, despite being a popular waiver wire add this week, should not make it into fantasy lineups.

The timing of the transaction is most notable after the Rams waited a full week to send him to injured reserve. Williams will be eligible to return for the team’s Week 12 game against the Cardinals. With Ronnie Rivers (knee) also on IR, the Rams will deploy some combination of Zach Evans, Royce Freeman, Darrell Henderson, and Myles Gaskin in Week 7 and beyond. Head coach Sean McVay said Friday that he would not comment on who might be the team’s lead back with Rivers and Williams out.

Williams’ Week 6 ankle injury gets worse by the day, and it appears the Rams will be without their lead back for the next month. The team has scrambled this week to piece together viable backfield options for the coming weeks, including activating Royce Freeman from the practice squad and signing former Dolphins and Vikings RB Myles Gaskin along with Darrell Henderson. Sixth-round rookie Zach Evans is expected to work as LA’s nominal lead back in Week 7 against the Steelers, though he could fall into a timeshare if he struggles out of the gate. Figuring out the Rams backfield is going to cause headaches for weeks.

“Obviously you saw Zach Evans get the first carries,” Rams head coach Sean 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.” Kyren Williams (ankle) and Ronnie Rivers (knee) both picked up injuries in LA’s Week 6 win against the Cardinals, leaving Evans, a rookie, as the last man standing in the backfield. At Ole’ Miss in 2022, Evans — who played his first two collegiate seasons at TCU — had 936 rushing yards and 119 receiving yards at a healthy 6.7 yards per touch. The Rams took him in the sixth round of the 2023 draft.

Kyren Williams (ankle) is expected to miss at least one week with an ankle sprain, but Rivers is at risk of going on injured reserve with his multi-week injury. With Williams and Rivers both likely to miss Week 7 against the Steelers, the Rams will likely look to rookie Zach Evans and veteran Royce Freeman to lead their backfield. Evans feels like the favorite to handle the majority of touches, although we would’ve expected the bell cow role Williams has enjoyed this season.

Williams’ injury isn’t considered long-term, according to Schefter, but the league’s new bell cow will miss at least one game with the injury. We’d normally advise adding Williams’ backup, Ronnie Rivers, in these situations, but Rivers is also expected to miss time with a potential PCL sprain. If both backs miss Week 7’s contest against the Steelers, the Rams could be forced to thrust rookie Zach Evans into a role along with veteran Royce Freeman. As the third running back on the depth chart, Evans feels like the logical waiver claim, as Freeman has spent all of this season on the practice squad.