The Los Angeles Rams may have surprised people when they selected Blake Corum in the third round of the latest NFL Draft. There had been reports/rumors of the Rams potentially being interested in the running back position (Audric Estime comes to mind) but I am not sure who knew the Rams were targeting Corum. One potential takeaway is that Kyren Williams and Corum are similar running backs. Given how effective Williams has been, and given that he hasn’t been able to stay healthy, then it does make sense why LA would want a backup and potential replacement for Williams.

But how similar are the players, and is there merit to the consideration? Let’s examine the NFL.com draft proflies for Williams and Corum. In time, we’ll be able to go off of so much more than draft profiles for Corum. For now, we’ll use what we have.

A few strengths according to William’s draft profile include:

“Team captain.”

“Finds ways to wiggle out of trouble in tight quarters.”

“Experienced lining up and running routes from the slot.”

“Rare understanding of protection schemes.”

Williams ended up going in the fifth round to the Rams. The overview in his draft profile projected that he could be like James White in the New England Patriots offense.

Some weaknesses for Williams according to the profile:

“More quick than explosive.”

“Below-average burst as an outside runner.”

“Lacks power to break tackles and move chains consistently.”

“Too many fumbles.”

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Williams was drafted in the 2022 NFL Draft so he’s had some time to generate new strengths and address past weaknesses. The biggest and most current issue facing Williams hasn’t been fumbling or a lack of breaking tackles. It’s been his inability to stay on the field. The young running back missed nearly all of his rookie season due to injury. He missed time again last year in his sophmore campaign, including getting injured during LA’s only playoff game.

Enter Corum who LA drafted to sure up their running back position now, but also potentially to become the starting back of the future.

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A few of Corum’s strengths from his profile include:

“Steps up and challenges linebackers in blitz pickup.”

“Able to add yards after catch out of the backfield.”

“Absorbs second-level contact with impressive balance”

“Hits the run north-south when it’s time to go.”

His overview says that he can be a third down back in the NFL or even a RB2/3 because he’s shown (in college) that he can handle his carries and get rolling.

“Just 12 of his last 45 rush touchdowns went for more than 5 yards.”

“Slow to reignite acceleration when gathering and slowing feet.”

“Gets impatient and will rush block development.”

“Wears down defenses with volume rather than power.”

It seems like neither Corum or Williams were looked at as consistent homerun hitters coming out of college. Corum can still change that narrative (Williams can too, but we’ve already seen him for two years).

So how alike is each back? Based on the NFL.com profiles both players do appear to share similarities, especially in pass protection and third down situations. Corum may be the better overall athlete (we’ll see if he can do it at the NFL level like Kyren has), and Corum literally is coming off of a season where his team won the National College Championship. There’s going to be a lot of hype around a player like that, and it could explain why LA had to take him where they did.

Not only were both players considered to be able to pass block at the NFL level, but they both were seen as well-balanced runners, and each player in their respective profiles were looked upon as a potential three-down back. Is Williams or Corum going to have a 10 year career in the NFL? There’s no way to know that, but each RB was expected to have the ability to contribute in the NFL. Williams has shown he can. Corum should have his opportunities as soon as this season to show what he can do.

We’ll learn a lot more about these two players by the time the season kicks off next year, but for now it seems that both backs were/are projected to be similar in style. Is that going to be a strength for the Rams? The Rams must have thought so.

It will be fascinating to see how each player is used or not used in the upcoming season. We’ve seen how Williams compares to his draft profile(s). Let’s see how Corum stacks up, and we’ll find out how alike these players really are or aren’t.