Rams RB Fantasy Outlook: Should You Draft Kyren Williams, Blake Corum, and Ronnie Rivers?

The Los Angeles Rams enter the 2024 season rich with fantasy football star-level talent.

Along with receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, running back Kyren Williams proved himself to be a viable RB1 option last season. The Rams drafted former Michigan Wolverine Blake Corum to back up Williams and compete for touches with Ronnie Rivers.

Williams appears to be secure in his spot atop the depth chart, but managers who are considering drafting him will want to have an idea of what backup RB to stash down the stretch.

Let’s take a look at the fantasy outlook for Williams, Corum, and Rivers in 2024.

Kyren Williams’ Fantasy Outlook and Projections

• PPR fantasy Points: 288.2 (246.2 Non-PPR)
• Rushing Yards: 1286.5
• Rushing Touchdowns: 11.8
• Receptions: 42.0
• Receiving Yards: 291.7
• Receiving Touchdowns: 2.9

In 2023, the Rams’ offense had a fifth-round rookie and fifth-round sophomore post an elite WR1 and elite RB1 season, an unexpected result that came out of nowhere. We will almost certainly never see anything like this again. While Puka Nacua and Williams were similar stories in 2023, that is not the case in 2024.

To be clear, by no means am I suggesting they can’t both repeat what they did last season. They absolutely can. It is definitively within their range of outcomes. The concern is with what history tells us about out-of-nowhere running backs like Williams.

Williams was a waiver wire pickup. Every year, fantasy managers should strive to find guys like Williams off the waivers. They are huge difference-makers and extremely beneficial because of the minimal cost associated with acquiring them.

Williams did not cost a premium draft pick — he just cost you some FAAB. This year, Williams is expensive. He’s got an RB7 ADP, No. 15 overall.

Ironically, Williams actually costs less than his production last year suggests he should. Williams was the overall RB2, averaging 21.2 fantasy points per game. He’s 24 years old on a good offense that has been very conducive to workhorse running backs over the past several years. Why isn’t he being drafted higher?

Whether inherently or overtly, fantasy managers seem to understand that Williams is already an outlier. For him to produce at a level commiserate with his ADP, he needs to continue to be one. In fact, he needs to be the ultimate outlier.

– Jason Katz, Fantasy Football Analyst

Blake Corum’s Fantasy Outlook and Projections

• PPR fantasy Points: 155.9 (138.2 Non-PPR)
• Rushing Yards: 882.3
• Rushing Touchdowns: 4.9
• Receptions: 17.6
• Receiving Yards: 176.5
• Receiving Touchdowns: 0.5

When the Rams drafted Corum, my immediate reaction was to not really care since Williams was so good last season. Plus, Williams has such a high-volume role that it’s unrealistic to project Corum for any standalone value.

But as the spring and then the summer wore on, I put more thought into all of my takes for this season, and Corum was one of the players I found myself warming up to in a big way.

Corum should be a sizable upgrade on the cavalcade of sub-replacement-level backups LA trotted out last season. He also showed an ability to handle a heavy workload at Michigan, carrying the ball 484 times in his final 26 collegiate games.

Additionally, Corum can work in the passing game. He wasn’t asked to do much of it at Michigan, but he did see an 8.6% target share in his sophomore season. If he found himself in Los Angeles’ lead-back role, he could very well see a 10% target share, which would be enough to bolster his fantasy value.

All of this is to say that Corum, at worst, should be fine. That does nothing for fantasy managers while Williams is healthy. But Williams plays running back, and running backs frequently get hurt. If he goes down, Corum is almost certainly going to be the next man up and very likely to see a significant workload.

Corum’s ADP sits at RB40 (No. 124 overall). Similarly, I have him ranked at RB36, and I do want to actively target him because he’s the exact type of running back fantasy managers should look to draft as their RB4.

– Jason Katz Fantasy Football Analyst

Ronnie Rivers’ Fantasy Outlook and Projections

• PPR fantasy Points: 65.0 (43.0 Non-PPR)
• Rushing Yards: 316.4
• Rushing Touchdowns: 0.1
• Receptions: 22.0
• Receiving Yards: 113.2
• Receiving Touchdowns: 0.1

With Williams penciled in for punt-returning duties, the usage of these backs is very open for interpretation. Of course, Williams averaged 21.7 touches per game last season and succeeded – regressing his role in a major way seems pretty unlikely.

Corum was drafted in the third round with the intention of not burning Williams out, and maybe Rivers can pick up some work in a similar vein. That said, he has been on this roster for two seasons and has totaled just 51 touches. If injuries put Rivers in a positive to see volume, it’s more likely that this team pushes all of its chips in on the pass game, and the backfield doesn’t hold consistent fantasy value.

– Kyle Soppe, Fantasy Football Analyst