The Los Angeles Rams have faced injury woes recently, but Kyren Williams seems to have dodged a bullet. However, an ESPN insider hit the Rams’ running back with a “disappointing” warning that may scare fantasy football managers.
It seems that Williams may be stuck in a solid timeshare, according to ESPN.
“I also asked the Rams about their running back usage,” Dan Graziano wrote. “Because I'm always looking out for my fantasy football readers. They've been rotating Williams and [Blake] Corum drive-to-drive and will continue to do so.
“They're both eminently usable in fantasy, but if you're expecting the split to start tilting toward one or the other, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.”
Rams have a solid reason for limiting RB Kyren Williams
It makes sense what the Rams are doing, at least as long as Corum produces similarly to Williams. And the average per carry says he is. Both players sit at 4.7. Williams has been better at finding the end zone with a seven-to-two advantage. He’s also the better receiver, with 24 catches for 184 yards. Corum has 10 grabs for a paltry 10 yards.
Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said it’s a matter of not overworking Williams.
“LaFleur told me he thinks they've been seeing the best version of Williams because he's fresher and not being asked to carry as much of the load,” Graziano wrote. “And the Rams have their sights set on January and February games and want everyone as fresh as possible.
“LaFleur told me that since Williams and Corum are such similar backs, and they wear uniform Nos. 23 and 22, sometimes he has to squint from where he is in the coaching box to remind himself which one is in the game and is celebrating the touchdown in the end zone.”
That can be a frustration for fantasy managers, who probably take a quick look to see who is in the backfield, pre-snap. They look similar enough that the side view, only seeing the first “2,” isn’t good enough. And then the back breaks free for a good run, and the fantasy manager might not be able to see the second number. That causes a conundrum between excitement and frustration.
And at this point in the fantasy season, it could be a tough blow.
