Rams' Blake Corum: Minimal involvement in Week 1 loss
Rotowire
Corum did not play a single offensive snap during the Rams' 26-20 overtime loss to the Lions on Sunday night. He did see nine snaps on special teams.
Corum wasn't involved on offense behind Kyren Williams, who played 91 percent of offensive snaps, and Ronnie Rivers, who saw nine percent of offensive snaps as the No. 2 running back. As the season progresses Corum, a rookie third-round pick, could usurp Rivers for the backup role, but Williams looks firmly cemented as Los Angeles' featured rusher. Despite the fact that Corum was listed as the Rams' top kick returner, those duties were handled by Jordan Whittington in Week 1. Corum will look to improve his involvement Sunday on the road against Arizona.
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Rams' Blake Corum: Listed as top kick returner
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Corum is listed as the Rams' top kick returner on their depth chart ahead of Sunday's season opener versus the Lions, Cameron DaSilva of USA Today reports.
Corum is coming off an impressive training camp in which he locked up the No. 2 running back role behind Kyren Williams and subsequently was held out of preseason games. Head coach Sean McVay appears ready and willing to deploy both of his top backs on special teams, saying that Corum "has come in and done an outstanding job" while adding that Williams is the Rams' top punt returner in part due to "confidence in [Corum] and Ronnie Rivers being able to spell [Williams] if need be, per Kyle Austin of MLive.com. It's a bit unorthodox to now have Corum also working in the return game, though DaSilva notes that the rookie third-round pick has some experience in that department, having returned 18 kicks with Michigan between the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Williams is coming off an exceptional 2023 breakout campaign in which he dominated backfield reps, but adding special-teams duties to both his and Corum's workloads could necessitate a shift in the Rams' backfield usage.
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Rams' Blake Corum: Adds competition for Kyren Williams
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The Rams selected Corum in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 83rd overall.
This is an interesting pairing as Los Angeles found a diamond in the rough in Kyren Williams in 2022, but Corum was likely the best player available at this stage. Corum had a storied career at Michigan with 3,736 yards on 675 rushes (5.5 YPC) and a whopping 58 scores on the ground, including 27 in his senior season. He's a stout back at a shade under 5-foot-8 and 205 pounds who doesn't have blazing speed but has tremendous vision and runs with exceptional toughness to pick up yards. Pass catching won't be his meal ticket in the NFL, but it doesn't need to be with Williams picking up that part of the offense. Corum is a threat to take carries from Williams right out of the gate, and while this strengthens the Rams backfield significantly, handicapping this backfield will be a headache for fantasy managers.
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Blake Corum: Checks boxes at 2024 Combine
Rotowire
Corum ran a 4.53 in the 40-yard dash and added a 35.5-inch vertical jump during his workout at the 2024 NFL Combine.
The Michigan product wasn't expected to test as a superior athlete based on his tape, but his workout won't cause his stock to slip much by any means. He placed 12th out of 21 running backs in the 40 while having a dense, 5-foot-8, 205-pound frame. His agility proved to be solid as well considering his cone (6.82) and shuttle times (4.12) were among the best among his position group. His strength was on display with a running back-leading 27 reps on the bench, too. Corum had gaudy production over his final three seasons at Michigan with 56 rushing touchdowns in that span, highlighted by 27 in his senior season. He doesn't have any standout traits but is a solid all-around runner who can contribute on all three downs. Corum can handle a heavy workload and pick up the blitz, and his pass-catching numbers (51 catches, 64 targets, 338 yards) check out as workable for the next level. He may no longer be the consensus No.1 running back in the class after this weekend as other backs did manage to post impressive workouts, but Corum should be among the first three backs taken in April.
