Kyren Williams admits he was worried when Rams drafted Blake Corum

Kyren Williams was the definition of a bell cow for the Los Angeles Rams last season, carrying the ball 228 times in the 12 games he played, while also leading the NFL in rushing yards per game (95.3). It was his first season as a starter and injuries aside, it couldn’t have gone much better for the Notre Dame product.

He probably felt great about his spot on the depth chart until the Rams went ahead and drafted Blake Corum in the third round, a somewhat surprising move by Los Angeles in April’s draft. Williams wasn’t in any danger of losing the starting job, but Corum’s arrival does complicate things and could lead to fewer touches for Kyren.

Williams said recently that he was initially worried after the Rams drafted Corum before realizing how the selection will help the team overall.

“At first I was worried about it, but then I had to think about it,” Williams said, via ESPN. “That competitive spirit in me had to get back and be like, ‘Man, they’re trying to help the team out.’ Because I missed some games last year and those games that I did miss, the run game, it wasn’t always there.”

Williams has only been in the NFL for two years, but he’s dealt with a number of injury issues during that time. He broke his foot in 2023 OTAs, sprained his ankle on the opening kickoff of his rookie season, injured his ankle again last season and broke his hand in the Rams’ playoff loss to Detroit. He even dealt with another foot issue earlier this offseason.

The Rams are a much better team when he’s available, so they want to be able to keep him fresh and healthy for all 17 games – which is what Corum will help with.

That’s something Williams is beginning to understand, too.

“Obviously it’s not going to be good for me [if I take every carry],” Williams said. “I’ve got to be able to look out for myself because it’s the longevity of it. Because, yeah, I want to be great this season, but I want to be great for multiple seasons … so it’s just being able to be smarter and just having people like Blake [Corum] and Ronnie [Rivers] being able to support me in that run game.”

Williams has maintained his spot atop the Rams’ depth chart this offseason and he should still be the starter this season, but Corum has the ability to spell him and take some of the workload off of his shoulders. That’s good for the Rams, Williams and Corum collectively.