The Los Angeles Rams have had one of the most successful rushing offenses in the NFL this season. Behind Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, the Rams finally have a balanced run game with versatility. That balance in usage and versatility is something that the Rams haven’t had in any season under head coach Sean McVay.
This season, the Rams rank third in rushing DVOA on offense and fourth in rushing success rate. Their 0.7 rushing yards over expected per attempt is fifth. While the success has been impressive, it’s been the balance between Williams and Corum that has stood out. After taking 68.5 and 73.7 percent of the team’s carries in 2023 and 2024, Williams is down to 59 percent this season. That’s over a 14 percent gap from last year and it comes after the Rams paid Williams in the offseason.
A result of that balance has been a more successful Williams and therefore a more successful run game for the Rams. Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler,
“They’ve been rotating Williams and Corum drive-to-drive and will continue to do so. LaFleur told me he thinks they’ve been seeing the best version of Williams because he’s fresher and not being asked to carry as much of the load, and the Rams have their sights set on January and February games and want everyone as fresh as possible.”
The Rams are getting the 2023 version of Kyren Williams who was fresh late in the season because of a midseason injury while he remains the featured back. In 2023, Williams averaged 0.7 rushing yards over expected and 0.07 EPA per rush with a 47.4 percent success rate. With under 300 carries, he had an explosive run rate of 3.9 percent. He gained 10 yards or more on 11.4 percent of his carries.
Not to say that Williams was bad last year, but he was much less efficient as the bell cow in the backfield. Taking a career-high 316 carries, he averaged -0.09 EPA per rush and had exactly 0 rushing yards over expected. His success rate was lower at 45.3 percent and gained 10 yards or more on just 8.54 percent of his carries. Heading into the offseason, it was clear that Batman needed a Robin. Williams needed a sidekick in the run game.
That’s exactly what has happened this year as Corum is on pace for 126 carries. It would be the most carries for a RB2 in the Rams offense since Darrell Henderson had 149 in 2021 behind Sony Michel. The Rams have found their Henderson and Michel combination, but Williams and Corum are actually good.
With more balance in the run game, Williams’ production is much closer to 2023, if not slightly better in spots. His 51.9 percent success rate is over four percent higher than 2023. His explosive run rate of 2.7 percent is nearly a full percentage point higher than last season. That doesn’t mention that 10.17 percent of his carries are going for 10 or more yards. He’s also averaging 0.6 rushing yards over expected and 0.01 EPA per rush. He’s much more efficient than he was last year.
Again, a lot of that is because of Blake Corum. Corum and Williams may have similar skillsets, but their play styles and how they run is much different. Williams is going to hit the hole and run at a defense. Corum is much shiftier and gets up to speed faster.
Despite almost 100 fewer attempts, Corum has just two fewer runs in which he’s hit 15 miles per hour or more and two fewer runs of 10 or more yards. Both Corum and Williams have exactly 4.7 yards per carry this season and 0.6 rushing yards over expected per attempt.
Corum has been the perfect complement to Williams this season and has allowed the Rams to add more variety to their run game. In 2023, the Rams were almost purely a gap concept run team. 61.4 percent of Williams’ carries were man/gap concepts. That was still 52.5 percent last year while 55.2 percent of Corum’s runs were zone concepts.
This season, Williams has almost a 50-50 man to zone split. Meanwhile, 55.1 percent of Corum’s runs have been zone. Williams averages 4.52 yards per carry in gap concepts which is better than Corum. On the other hand, Corum averages 5.16 in zone which is better than Williams. Additionally, on zone runs, Corum has a 20.2 percent explosive run rate.
Nate Atkins of The Athletic recently expanded on this usage as well. Said Atkins,
“Sunday’s patience on the 34-yard bounce shows how he can eventually find a fit and what the explosive payoff can be. The overall growth is in the numbers: Corum has seen his workload increase from 3.4 carries a game to 7.4 this year, all while his yards per rush have gone from 3.6 to 4.7. It has made him a strong counterpunch to Williams, who is more of a consistent between-the-tackles runner and less of the breakaway threat. The Rams have aimed for a 65-35 split between the two this season, but usage can fluctuate greatly week to week, depending on whether Corum is hitting those creases.”
As a duo, Williams and Corum rank second in second level yards via FTN Fantasy which is rushes in which a team’s running backs earn between 5-10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Last season, they ranked 13th and they were ninth in 2023.
Of course, none of this is possible without the offensive line. The Rams offensive line has been nothing short of dominant in the run game this season. For as historically dominant in the run game as the 2018 offensive line was, this group has been right there.
The 2025 Rams offensive line has 5.36 adjusted line yards which takes all running back carries and assigns responsibility to the offensive line. With the data available via FTN Fantasy, that is the second-most and trails only the 2018 Rams. Additionally, the Rams have a run-blocking grade via PFF of 89.1. That’s 9.3 points better than the second-ranked team. The last teams to have a higher grade in PFFs system are the 2014 Philadelphia Eagles and the 2014 Dallas Cowboys.
Among all offensive linemen, the core four of Alaric Jackson, Steve Avila, Coleman Shelton, and Kevin Dotson all rank inside the top-15 in run blocking via PFF. Again, they have been outright dominant.
This is something that the Rams should be leaning on down the stretch. Had the Rams leaned more on the run game against the Panthers, an argument can be made that they may have won. It’s key for the play-caller as much as the players to get it right. Corum had a 100 percent success rate in the loss to the Panthers and touched the ball seven times. Williams had 7.6 yards per carry to Corum’s 1.2 against the Seahawks but only had four more rushing attempts. For the run game to hit its potential, the Rams coaching staff needs to have a feel for the game flow.
The Rams rank third this season in pass rate over expected at four percent. That’s way too high in a league in which running the ball has gained importance. Comparatively, the Chicago Bears have a -3.7 pass rate over expected, which ranks 22nd. The Rams are the only team in the NFC playoff picture with positive pass rate over expected.
Over the next five weeks, the Rams will play the number one and number six rated run defenses in the NFL in the Lions and Seahawks. However, it’s going to be important to remain balanced and run the ball down the stretch. In the same way that the Rams leaned on Todd Gurley and CJ Anderson in 2018, they should be able to do the same with Williams and Corum.
The answer to the Rams running game was never Corum OR Williams. It was always both. Less Williams has provided a player who is fresher in December. More Corum has resulted in a change of pace player who provides some explosiveness. This has been one of the most successful run games in the NFL and it’s one that the Rams should be able to ride with into the postseason.
