Blake Corum averaged north of 5.0 yards per carry with 47 touchdowns over his final two seasons at Michigan — production that resulted in him drawing the interest of the Rams. He was the third running back picked in the 2024 draft (52 picks ahead of Bucky Irving), but Kyren Williams stayed healthy last year and never allowed the rookie to carve out a role.
Are we looking at anything more than a fantasy football roster filler in 2025?
Should You Draft Blake Corum in Fantasy?
When going down the depth chart, fantasy managers are asked to do two things in the evaluation process:
- Does this player have a path to a consistent role?
- Does this player have what it takes to take advantage of an opportunity?
In the case of Corum, I’m not confident that he checks either of those boxes, let alone both.
Not every situation is the same, and they often require levels of nuance, but at the core, those two questions need to be answered before any deep dive is done. This time last year, he had a path to work behind a running back who missed seven games as a rookie and another five in his second season. He was brought in to be more of an insurance policy than competition for Williams, but that’s all we wanted him to be.
Now, 12 months later, Williams is coming off a healthy season that saw him touch the ball 350 times, and the Rams added Jarquez Hunter with the 117th overall pick, a player who averaged 6.5 yards per touch during his time at Auburn.
I understand wanting to load up the running back room with talent, especially with an aging QB under center who is best used as a hired gun in higher leverage spots late in games than a true difference maker, but with a lack of clarity in the hierarchy behind Williams, how can fantasy managers feel good about either Corum or Hunter in a redraft setting?
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My concerns wouldn’t be as loud if we saw proof of concept when it comes to Corum’s pro outlook, but we don’t have that luxury, Yes, it’s a tiny sample, but of the 70 running backs who were handed the ball 50+ times a season ago, Corum ranked 55th in percentage of attempts gaining at least 10 yards (6.9%) and 56th in our custom Elusive Rating metric.
In essence, his profile from last season mirrored that of Gus Edwards and Miles Sanders, a pair of veterans that you’d have to walk me through the case of them being roster worthy, even if they had a clear path to work, a luxury Corum doesn’t have.
In fantasy football circles, there are starting running backs, viable replacement options, and then make-me-believe-it players. Corum is locked into the latter until proven otherwise, as I’m not 100% sure that he’d be a top-25 RB in the event that Williams were to get hurt.
Jarquez Hunter college splits inside/outside the tackles with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum pic.twitter.com/3lAqYYAAvo
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) May 26, 2025
Shutting the door on a kid with this sort of collegiate production entering his second NFL season is a bit rash, but in average-sized redraft leagues, this isn’t the type of player you stash and hope for — it’s one you add if an impactful role presents itself. You have assurance that a decent amount of work is coming his way for an extended period of time.
Dan Fornek’s Blake Corum Fantasy Projection
Many expected Blake Corum to steal carries from Kyren Williams during his rookie season after the Rams selected him in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Corum was coming off a National Championship season where he was the focal point of Michigan’s offense, carrying the ball 258 times for 1,245 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also added 16 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown through the air.
Corum has nearly an identical skill set to Williams, so it was believed that his selection would allow the Rams to rotate backs to keep both fresh. Instead, Corum was limited to an 11% snap share and just 65 touches during his rookie season. The rookie made just one start in Week 18, but was limited to just 12 snaps before suffering a fractured forearm that knocked him out of participating in the NFL playoffs.
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There is little reason to believe Corum will have a bigger role in 2025. In a lot of ways, his situation has gotten worse. Not only is Williams back and set to lead the backfield once again, but the Rams also used another middle-round pick on a running back in the NFL Draft (Auburn’s Jarquez Hunter). Hunter adds a speed element to the backfield that neither Williams nor Corum possesses, so he could be another player who out-touches Corum next season.
It appears that Corum will purely be a handcuff as long as Kyren Williams is on the team, which gives him minimal fantasy value without an injury.
