After being one of the most hyped additions to the Los Angeles Rams' roster in 2024, fans had exceptionally high expectations for Blake Corum in his Week 1 debut.
On paper, he had everything going for him: a crafty head coach, even more time to recover from an ugly knee injury in December of 2022, and a fantastic running back in Kyren Williams to split carries with, avoiding any early burnout that could have him hitting a rookie wall before Thanksgiving. Throw that all together, and things looked pretty perfect for Corumd heading into Week 1, with a chance to really shine for his new team.
Well, as it turns out, Corum was perfect in Week 1, as he finished the game with no catches, no rushing yards, and no snaps, earning the elusive triple-zero as he watched his new team drop one in overtime sans any contribution to the game's final outcome.
What gives? Why didn't the Rams give Corum a shot when things were falling apart? Could he have really made things worse?
Well, during his media availability with reporters on Thursday, offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur explained the situation, breaking down why Tyler Johnson was called upon when Puka Nacua went down with injury, but Corum remained on the bench as the offensive line injuries started piling up.
Experience, not ability, kept Blake Corum off the field for the Rams
While many fantasy football managers screamed in anger as Johnson closed on Week 1 with a massive stat line while Corum went pointless, in LaFleur's opinion, the decision made all the sense in the world, as when he needed someone reliable as when things started falling apart, he wanted to rely on the steady hand.
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“It's just kind of how the game fell a little bit, you know? It got out of… with some of the stuff that was happening from a personnel standpoint and then just kind of some of the schematic adjustments we had to make being Week 1, it just kind of fell that way. It was a different kind of game,” LaFleur explained.
“It's hard to explain in a short time, but it's not going to be like that every week. We're focused on this week and how that rotation's going to go. To answer the first question with Tyler, he's played in this league. We got him obviously a year ago, not right away. I can't remember the exact date. As he's just kind of grown in this system and the little nuances that we're talking about that happen in that receiver room, he's on it. He's on his details. The game's not too big for him. He's tough. He's a big physical dude, and he has confidence. I know, most importantly, Matthew [Stafford], and the guys have confidence in him. Again, ‘Next man up' and he's that man up.”
So the Rams decided not to give the ball to Corum but target Johnson because the former is a rookie and the latter is vet, even though he's never actually produced much of anything at the NFL level? Or again, maybe LaFleur, Sean McVay, and company simply felt like giving the ball to Corum in such an unfortunate situation would have led to less-than-stellar results, as at least the Rams knew Williams would move the ball effectively when his number was called. Either way, let's hope for everyone's sake that LA decides to make a concerted effort to get Corum involved in Week 2, as if they don't, the coaching staff may never hear the end of it.
