While Blake Corum was the fantasy football community’s favorite handcuff running back after the Los Angeles Rams selected him in the third round of April’s draft, the Michigan product had been missing in action through the first month of his rookie NFL season.
That (slightly) changed in Week 5, when Corum saw his first non-blowout reps of the year in a loss to the Green Bay Packers. How should you handle Kyren Williams’ backup on the waiver wire entering Week 6?
Should You Add Rams RB Blake Corum on the Week 6 Fantasy Waiver Wire?
Fantasy managers who drafted Corum likely did so hoping that the Michigan product had an RB1 upside in the unfortunate event of a Williams injury. However, through the first four weeks of the 2024 season, it was unclear whether Corum was even Williams’ direct backup.
Corum didn’t play a single offensive snap in Weeks 1, 3, or 4. In Week 2, every one of his eight rushing attempts came in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Corum handled five carries against the Packers on Sunday, but when he took those attempts was even more important.
Week 5 wasn’t a blowout. All of Corum’s touches came in normal downs and distances, and the Rams were within one score on his first four carries.
Corum received three carries inside Green Bay’s 10-yard line with the Rams down 7-0 early in the second quarter. He converted a first down on 2nd-and-3, then got down to the one-yard line with a three-yard gain on a pitch play to the left.
— DRClips (@DRFootballClips) October 7, 2024
On 2nd-and-goal from the one-yard line, Corum was stuffed for no gain. Williams entered on third down and punched in a touchdown. Corum received just one more touch over the rest of the game.
Still, managers who drafted Corum were never projecting much of a stand-alone role behind Williams. He was viewed as a pure handcuff who would ascend to an RB1 role in a well-schemed offense if Williams went down.
From that perspective, Week 5 was an unmitigated success for Corum. He earned touches in non-garbage time and played ahead of fellow RB Ronnie Rivers, who went from 13 offensive snaps in Week 4 to zero against the Packers.
Corum’s five carries for 25 yards and one catch for eight yards mean less than his 14% snap rate. He firmly re-established himself as Williams’ handcuff. We’re confident Corum would receive the lion’s share of the Rams’ backfield work if Williams suffered an injury.
Los Angeles’ offense isn’t the juggernaut it was supposed to be, which isn’t surprising given that wideout Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, and starting offensive linemen Jonah Jackson and Steve Avila are sidelined with injuries.
Though five weeks, the Rams rank 21st in scoring and 18th in EPA per play. This isn’t the same L.A. squad that finished eighth in points and seventh in efficiency in 2023.
Still, Sean McVay typically likes to stick with one running back. If Williams went down, Corum would likely assume a heavy workload — and any RB with a 20-touch upside in 2024 is a must-stash.
Corum is a pure contingency play, but he’s a valuable one. Week 5 showed us the updated hierarchy in the Rams’ backfield. Corum might not be quite as valuable as we thought he could be (given the state of Los Angeles’ offense), but he’s still a viable lottery ticket.
