Rams RB Kyren Williams Taking On Massive Workload; Is It Sustainable?
Los Angeles Rams running back is Kyren Williams is the new No. 1 back in town, and he's certainly getting the workload of one.
Since former starting running back Cam Akers was inactive for Week 2, then traded ahead of Week 3, Williams has been a near constant on the field for the Rams' offense. The second-year back played 95 percent of offensive snaps on Sept. 17 against the San Francisco 49ers, then every single down on Monday against the Cincinnati Bengals. In total, Williams has played 131 of 135 possible snaps over the past two weeks.
Add in his 53 snaps from Week 1, and Williams has played 184 total snaps this season, the most of any running back by a considerable margin. If he were to continue at his current pace, Williams would play 1,043 snaps this season. According to Rams Wire, that would be the highest snap count of any running back since Christian McCaffrey played 1,039 in 2019, around 93 percent of his team's offensive snaps.
Even to the Rams themselves, this approach is unsustainable. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur even noted last week that L.A. needs to do a better job of managing Williams' playing time and not letting him burn out.
“Yeah, that’d probably break a record I would assume at the running back position,” LaFleur said, per Rams Wire. “I know back in the day they maybe just sent one guy out there for the most part, unless they need a spell, but it’ll work itself out. Obviously, he was out there quite a bit.
Despite that, the Rams still trotted out Williams for every snap on Monday night. More concerning is the fact that Ronnie Rivers and Royce Freeman only played on special teams, while rookie Zach Evans wasn't even active. That shows a clear lack of trust in the other running backs, which is an issue in and of itself.
For Williams, who's in just his second season and stands at 5-9 and less than 200 pounds, playing every single down simply isn't feasible. To avoid injury, the Rams must have someone to spell him, whether that's someone who's currently on the roster or not.