DRBR: Los Angeles Rams

There are some mixed feelings when it comes to looking at the DRBR for Kyren Williams. His overall score — not that bad — but it's largely pushed by another season full of an insane amount of volume, which realistically is nothing to worry about. Sean McVay has shown us since he's been a head coach, he's going to give one running back a majority of the touches.

So Kyren Williams in volume is absolutely fine. What we don’t want to see is, unfortunately, a downward trend when it comes to the efficiency ratings, because that is where Kyren Williams saw a big-time drop-off last season.

And last season was actually Kyren Williams' least efficient season since entering the NFL.

Seeing scores like this are actually very surprising given how he has scored since being drafted by the Rams:

• His 58 in yards after contact is a pretty steep drop from last year.

• He averaged 3.34 yards after contact per attempt in 2023 — that dropped all the way to 2.72 last year.

• His tackles avoided per attempt score was 57 in 2024.

• In 2023, he had 51 avoided tackles on 228 attempts.

• In 2024, only 50 avoided tackles — on 316 attempts.

And you can continue right on down the road with a little bit of a step back:

• Runs of 10+ yards: 26 in 2023 → only 27 in 2024 (despite far more touches).

• Runs of 15+ yards: 9 in 2023 → only 6 in 2024.

  
  

Is this a concerning trend?

As of right now, no, I'm not going to say it's a concerning trend. You still have another year with Matthew Stafford. He's getting older, but he's still a good NFL quarterback. He's not going to take a huge drop-off this season where this offense can't even operate or function correctly.

They've added Davante Adams to hopefully take the place of what Cooper Kupp used to do and give them an upgrade over what he was last season. Puka Nacua just has to stay healthy. You drafted Terrance Ferguson, and you still have Tyler Higbee as well.

So, there’s plenty of weapons. And as long as the offensive line can stay healthy and be manageable all season long, hopefully Kyren Williams sees a little bit of a bump back to what he's been closer to over the course of his NFL career in terms of efficiency.

The first man up behind him is going to be Blake Corum. Not bad numbers last year:

• 67 in tackles avoided per attempt

• 65 in receiving yards after the catch

  
  

And we know based on his Michigan days, he can make guys miss. Although I really don’t think that’s going to be too much that we have to worry about — Blake Corum is probably not going to offer a ton in the passing game. He is a suitable backup that we probably don’t need to worry about right now.

But if we were to see any issues — injury-related problems — to Kyren Williams, that’s when Blake Corum steps up, and I believe he will be first up over Jarquez Hunter.