Fans of the Los Angeles Rams have been lobbying for Sean McVay to run the ball more often this season, especially after two consecutive losses where the Rams found themselves leaning on Matthew Stafford to get them out of a hole. Los Angeles has an offensive line that has excelled in run-blocking, and it has two capable running backs in Darrell Henderson Jr. and Sony Michel, so there’s no excuse not to run the ball.
With the Rams coming out of their bye week, McVay shared what he would like to see from the rushing attack in the remaining weeks of the regular season.
“I think you want to see really good efficiency. I’ve talked about this before, the good offenses have the ability to do either or. It doesn’t mean that you always have to do one or the other. I think you have to be able to give yourself an advantage based on what are some of the things that you anticipate seeing, but I do expect us to be able to run the football at an efficient level,” McVay said. “If we’ve got to be able to run it or throw it, the good offenses can do either or. What does that look like in terms of numbers and things like that? I don’t really necessarily get caught up in that, but I do want to see efficient runs. I want to see conversions in some of these short-yardage situations, being able to punch the ball in the red area and being able to stay on track in the early downs. And so, I know that’s kind of a very vague answer for you, but ultimately it boils down to efficiency, allowing us to be able to stay on track and be able to run it or throw it at a level that’s in alignment with putting ourselves in a position to move a football and score points.”
The Rams entered the bye week as the No. 24 ranked rushing offense in the NFL with only 97.9 yards per game. Despite being a below-average rushing team in terms of yards per game, Los Angeles does rank ninth in rush DVOA this season.
Henderson has led the way for the Rams with 593 yards and five touchdowns on 126 carries. The Memphis product is averaging a career-high 4.7 yards per attempt thus far, proving himself worthy of handling a bigger workload to finish the season.
Behind Henderson, Michel has played a minimal role, averaging a mere 3.8 yards per carry on 76 attempts. Michel shouldn’t see the field much as long as Henderson remains healthy.
Following the loss of Robert Woods for the season, the Rams could elect to run the ball more to ease the pressure off of Stafford moving forward. At the same time, McVay realizes he has a trio of wideouts in Cooper Kupp, Odell Beckham Jr., and Van Jefferson that can make plays through the air.
So if you’re someone that is itching for McVay to pound the rock more, I’d be hesitant to believe that he’d drastically alter his playcalling this late in the season.
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