One of the bigger question marks for the Los Angeles Rams this offseason has been how they will manage running back Kyren Williams in 2024. In a league that has embraced the running back by committee formula, the Rams have remained a one-back team. That has been despite drafting running backs such as Zach Evans, Blake Corum, and having an experienced player in Ronnie Rivers.

In one sense, it’s a good thing that the Rams have a running back that they can trust to carry the load. At the same time, it is worth wondering whether or not having another player that can take some of those responsibilities would help Williams. The Rams running back has struggled with ball security and explosiveness. If the Rams are able to keep him fresh throughout the season, would that benefit Williams?

Over the past two seasons, it’s hard to find a running back that has played more than Williams. Last season, he led all running backs in the NFL in snap percentage at 86.4 percent. Williams was the only running back above 80 percent. He also tied for the highest carry percentage, taking 73.7 percent of the Rams rushing attempts. Williams was tied with Jonathan Taylor.

It’s not just in the running game where Williams is used frequently. Williams also ran a route on 58.8 percent of Rams passing attempts and ran the fourth most total routes. Only Christian McCaffrey ran routes at a higher percentage. While players like Breece Hall, Bijan Robinson, and De’Von Achane ran more total routes, they also only took around 60 percent of their teams’ rushing attempts. In Achane’s case, he took 45.3 percent of the Miami Dolphins’ carries.

This was also the case for Williams in 2023 as he took 83.3 percent of the team’s snaps at running back, trailing only McCaffrey. He also took 68.5 percent of the team’s rushing attempts. That was second behind Josh Jacobs. In the passing game, Williams ran a route on 63.4 percent of the team’s dropbacks which ranked third. It’s also worth noting that Williams missed games with injury in 2023.

It’s not hard to argue that Williams has been the most-used running back in the NFL over the past two seasons. With Blake Corum heading into year two and the team drafting Jarquez Hunter in the fourth round, the hope would be that both see some playing time this season to relieve Williams.

The caveat here is that Sean McVay has never run a two running back offense.with the Rams. There was the playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys in 2018 in which Todd Gurley and CJ Anderson each rushed for over 100 yards. However, that has much more been the exception than the norm.

While Sony Michel and Darrell Henderson were at a near 50-50 split in 2021, from Weeks 12-18 that wasn’t the case at all. Michel took over at that point and was getting 74.6 percent of the team’s carries. In 2022, Cam Akers only took 52.1 percent of the team’s carries for the season. However, once Akers found his rhythm, he was taking 64.2 percent of the team’s carries from Weeks 13-18.

It should be no surprise that the results were any different with Todd Gurley in the backfield. Gurley took 67.6 percent of the team’s carries in 2017 and 69 percent of the team’s carries in 2018. Even with an injured Gurley in 2019, he was at 66.8 percent.

When McVay has found a running back that he likes, he tends to ride that player. The issue in Williams’ case is believing whether or not he is that type of player.

That’s especially notable when it comes to Williams’ ball security. Williams fumbled the ball three times in 2023. Those fumbles came in games in which he had 25 or more carries. Williams’ first two fumbles this past season came during games in which he had 22 carries. He then went on a stretch in which he fumbled in three out of four games. This was following a stretch in which he had 20 or more carries in five out of six games.

There’s also a minor difference in Williams’ explosiveness. In the seven games last season in which Williams had 18 or fewer carries, his explosive run rate was 3.8 percent. His missed tackles forced per attempt was 0.17 and his yards after contact per attempt was 2.18.

Conversely, in the nine games that Williams had 19 or more carries, his explosive run rate was 0.9 percent. His missed tackles forced per attempt was 0.1 and his yards after contact per attempt was 2.05. While the difference is there for missed tackles forced and yards after contact, it is minimal. However, the difference in explosive run rate is very noticeable.

That’s not to say whether or not Williams can handle that type of load. The question here is whether or not he should be that player. It’s not even about limiting Williams’ touches, but rather trying to maximize what he’s capable of as a player. He’s not Adrian Peterson or Saquon Barkley who get better with more touches.

Last season when taking a majority of the carries, Williams struggled creating in the open field and creating explosive plays. He also struggled with ball security. It’s fair to wonder if Williams could do more if there was another element of the running game and if he was fresher during games.

Whatever side you are on when it comes to Williams, he is a somewhat limited player, especially from a speed and creativity standpoint. Having another player that can help make up for Williams’ deficiencies should only help Williams and the Rams run game overall.

Again, it comes down to whether or not McVay trusts the other running backs to be on the field. While the Rams drafted Hunter, McVay typically hasn’t used rookie running backs because of their deficiencies in pass protection. Darrell Henderson had just 39 carries as a rookie in 2019. Blake Corum took 58 carries last season which ranked ninth among rookie running backs in 2024. His 68 total snaps ranked 10th.

The Rams drafted Hunter in the fourth round, who has the 4.4 speed that both Williams and Corum lack. Will McVay find ways to get him on the field or will he have the same development process as rookie running backs before him and barely see playing time?

At the end of the day, Kyren Williams is a quality running back and has been the engine of the Rams’ ground game. But that doesn’t mean he’s without limitations. By adopting more of a committee approach, the Rams could help cover those weaknesses and in the process, get even more out of Williams. The question remains whether or not McVay can embrace that type of run game.