The Los Angeles Rams entered their season opening game against the Detroit Lions Sunday night with a banged up offensive line. Starting left tackle Alaric Jackson missed the contest as he served the first game of a two-game suspension, while starting right tackle Rob Havenstein was out with an ankle injury. The team also lost Steve Avila during the game to a knee ailment and was forced to mix and match protections along the offensive line all night.
For those wondering why the Rams’ rookie running back Blake Corum was a no-show in the team’s season debut, head coach Sean McVay explained that the injuries to the o-line changed LA’s RB rotation game plan, per ESPN’s Sarah Barshop on X. For what it’s worth, McVay acknowledged, “That was not how we anticipated the rotation to go.”
The Rams selected Corum out of Michigan in the third round of the 2024 draft. He was expected to work behind incumbent starter Kyren Williams in the backfield before the team was forced to change things up on the fly Sunday evening.
Better days are ahead for Rams’ RB Blake Corum
Corum was listed as the number two running back for the Rams as well as the team’s kick returner. However, undrafted third year back Ronnie Rivers ran ahead of Corum in the team’s opening night loss to the Lions in overtime.
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Of course, that’s not saying much considering Rivers got seven total snaps on Sunday, carrying the ball just twice. Meanwhile Williams resumed his workhorse role from last season, playing on 71 snaps, carrying the ball 18 times and receiving three targets. Corum ended up playing zero snaps on offense, according to Barshop.
While some observers were concerned that Williams would take more of a back seat this season after a breakout campaign for the Rams in 2023 when it was announced he would handle punt return duties, he remained an integral part of LA’s offense in the Lions game. However, that is not necessarily going to be the formula moving forward for the team. The Rams “want to get Ronnie a little bit more involved, want to be able to get Blake involved as well,” McVay explained, via Barshop.
The Rams will need all the offensive firepower they can muster after star receiver Puka Nacua hurt his knee on Sunday. Nacua will be placed on the injured reserve, which will sideline him for at least four weeks.
