Rams GM Les Snead says Blake Corum is going to “help the Rams in many, many ways”

Les Snead spoke about why the team selected the rookie RB, even after a breakout 2023 season by Kyren Williams

The Los Angeles Rams had a major breakout at the running back position in 2023 when second-year player Kyren Williams finished with 1,144 yards and 12 touchdowns out of the backfield. Even with this success, LA chose to select RB Blake Corum out of Michigan with the 83rd pick of the NFL draft. While depth at the running back position is always a good thing, some questioned the Rams move to take Corum relatively high in the draft when the position group was already relatively strong. Currently, last year’s change-of-pace back Ronnie Rivers is still on the roster, as well as last year’s sixth round pick Zach Evans, along with Williams and Corum.

Los Angeles General Manager Les Snead recently appeared on “The Rich Eisen Show”, explaining the team’s decision to draft another running back, and why the felt that Corum was the move at 83 overall, rather than potentially trading back to recoup picks like they had originally considered.

“Blake’s always been one of our favorite football players to watch,” Snead said. “We thought he might go before Pick 83 and we knew we probably wouldn’t do a running back as early as the second round, so as we got to that third-round pick, we had done a lot of planning to think, ‘OK, this might be a time to trade back and grab some other ammo later in the draft and continue working the draft that way. But when we got to 83 and Blake was there, it was one of those things where just the human being and football player combined, just a unique individual who’s definitely going to help the Rams in many, many ways.”

During his time at Michigan, Corum had himself a prolific collegiate career with 3,737 yards and 58 touchdowns, while averaging 5.5 yards per carry. He also helped in the passing game with 411 yards receiving and three more touchdowns. He and Williams have very similar styles of play, something Rams head coach Sean McVay took note of.

After Corum was drafted at No. 83 overall, McVay mentioned to the press:

“For me, one of the things that jumped off is there’s a lot of traits that reminded me of Kyren Williams… Obviously, Kyren will put Blake under his arm and be a great mentor and kind of a leader. But, (running backs coach) Ron Gould was really excited about him, (offensive coordinator) Mike LaFleur, I obviously love his game. McVay continued “He’s got a bunch of tape to be able to evaluate, he’s been a part of an incredibly successful program, he’s been the bell cow for them in the midst of their successful runs they’ve had their last few years. And so, we’re really looking forward to getting to work with him.”

The starting job for 2024 should still be securely Kyren Williams’, but he was forced to miss four games in 2023 with a high-ankle injury, during which the Rams went 1-3 in his absence. He also broke his hand in the playoff game vs. Detroit and missed most of his rookie season on IR with a different high-ankle sprain. The Rams offense goes as the run and play-action pass do, so having a similar style back as an insurance policy for any potential future Williams injury could help keep the team on track in the event he was forced to miss time again.

Snead’s comments about Corum “helping the Rams in many, many ways” also tells me that LA has a plan on how to use both Williams and Corum together. It gives off the vibe that the team sees the rookie out of Michigan as a important piece to the offense, taken as a weapon to be used, rather than just a depth piece at running back.