Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford has been in the NFL for almost two decades, but he believes that this season he has the best running back room behind him that he’s ever had in his career. The combination of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum could surpass any duo he’s ever had in the backfield before and that was apparent during the Rams’ 35-21 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
Williams and Corum rushed for 192 yards on 33 carries against the Raiders. That’s the type of offensive attack that Sean McVay will need moving forward in the absence of Davante Adams for the next two months.
Stafford told Pat McAfee on Monday that he’s perhaps never had a running back duo quite like this, where both backs are so interchangeable play-in and play-out.
“It’s a whole lot of fun…I haven’t had a tandem like this where they both can do everything, Right? Usually you have one big guy, one small guy. Big slow gut that can run over people and a small fast guy that can run around people…this is a really unique instance in which we can call our entire offense with both those guys in the game and not bat an eye. Sometimes I get in the huddle and I don’t know which one of ‘em is in the damn game; they look so alike anyways. So, hey, we just go out there and play ball and those guys do what they do.”
Now, Stafford has competed with some solid, if not great, running backs like Reggie Bush, Joique Bell, Theo Riddick, D’Andre Swift, Cam Akers, and Darrell Henderson. By comparison, Stafford feels that Williams and Corum offer a “unique” difference as they both can sub in for each other without missing a beat.
To hear Stafford tell it, they don’t have separate packages for each back. The playbook stays the same regardless of which back is in there, and that’s a huge boost for L.A.‘s offense, while being tricky on opposing defenses. It’s a feature Stafford doesn’t believe he’s had before in his career.
The Rams offense was clicking in Week 6 as L.A.‘s run game put up 199 yards to complement Stafford’s 187 passing yards and three touchdowns. It was perhaps the first time the Rams showed a “balanced” attack all season in terms of runs vs. passes. It worked.
On the season, Williams has 96 carries to Corum’s 64. Williams, to his credit, has also been a demon in the passing game with 32 catches to Corum’s 10. The stats say Williams is the lead back, and he is, but watch for the Rams to give more carries/touches to Corum as long he keeps producing.
The Rams will likely need both backs to continue to be effective beyond Week 6 to truly stamp themselves in the playoff race, and re-establish themselves as a Super Bowl contender.
Having two running backs you can lean on seems better than only having one, and to hear Stafford tell it, he doesn’t care whether it’s Williams or Corum getting the work, he just wants to keep working with them. Both of them.