
WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. After Todd Gurley's departure, the Rams struggled to find a strong, continuous rushing attack until them-tight ends coach Nick Caley brought Josh McDaniel run principles to Los Angeles and paired with the Shanahan foundation of Mike LaFleur, Kyren Williams exploded in 2023, earning All-Pro honors.
Since then, Williams has recorded three 1,000 yard seasons while Blake Corum had a breakout year, establishing the two men as the Rams' best 1-2 running back combo since Gurley and C.J. Anderson lit up defenses in 2018.
However, the success of the present does not dictate success in the future and for Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, it's time to once again evolve.
McVay was asked earlier this week about the success of the run game and what improvements needed to be made entering next season.
“I think first and foremost, the players and the coaches," stated McVay. "The players bring it to life. You look at Ryan Wendell, Zak Kromer and Brian Allen on the offensive line. You look at ‘Scooter’ [Scott] Huff with the tight ends. Ron Gould with the backs. [Eric] Yarber, Nate [Scheelhaase] and Rob [Calabrese] with the receivers. [Quarterbacks Coach] ‘Rags’ [Dave Ragone] being able to make sure that Matthew's in tune with all the canned criteria and the things that we're really trying to get done. It’s a tremendous reflection of our players and coaches. They understood the intent."
"We have a lot of room to grow, but we always talk about trying to find that perfect balance of being explosive, but also being efficient. I think there were a lot of instances where we could do that. It's so hard when you're behind the sticks against these good defenses in the league. Our ability to be efficient on those early downs whether we're running it or throwing it, but particularly in the run for what you're asking is key and critical. I thought our backs did a great job of being able to make better blockers, but then also breaking tackles. I thought [Running Back] Kyren [Williams] and [Running Back] Blake [Corum] really ran well."
"I thought they complimented each other really well. I'm really looking forward to watching that continue to grow. We'll have to expand. We'll have to evolve and adapt. We can't do the same things that we did this past year and expect the same results. We've seen that before and that's not how this thing goes. I'm excited about improving and building it back up. It's always about the players and the coaches did a tremendous job of providing clarity and trying to be able to provide solutions to help them consistently execute.”
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