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Jarquez Hunter brings a new dimension to the Rams’ backfield, but whose role is he about to shake up?
It wasn’t necessarily a surprise when the Los Angeles Rams selected a running back in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Rams have drafted a running back every year that Sean McVay has been the head coach. In addition, while the Rams had a strong running game last year, it lacked a lot of variety. It’s great to have a running game that can keep an offense on schedule. At the same time, having a running back that can make plays in space and create explosives can take an offense to another level.
This is what the Rams running game has lacked consistently. Kyren Williams does a great job keeping the offense on schedule. He ranked 14th in rushing success rate last season among running backs with at least 200 carries. At the same time, he consistently only gets what’s blocked for him. Williams finished with exactly 0 rushing yards over expected. Williams also finished 22nd among 23 running backs in explosive run rate. All of this is known.
When the Rams drafted Blake Corum last year, it was an overcorrection to a problem from the year prior. Without Williams in the lineup, the Rams offense struggled and was not able to produce consistently from a rushing perspective. The Rams tried Royce Freeman and Darrell Henderson and both were unable to provide the same spark that Williams could. To prevent that, Corum was drafted as a Kyren Williams clone. On draft night, McVay spoke about Corum matching a lot of what Williams gives them.
Having similar profiles in players can be a good thing, especially in the case of injury. However, it’s also possible to have too much of one thing and that’s what happened when the Rams drafted Corum. Williams remained healthy last season and therefore Corum didn’t see much playing time. In his 58 carries, he didn’t create a single explosive play and his 3.57 yards per carry ranked 59th out of 70 running backs. His 1.66 yards after contact ranked 69th.
Instead of a thunder and lightning duo, the Rams had thunder and thunder. They had two running backs with near-identical skill sets.
Again, it’s no surprise that the Rams drafted a running back. However, taking one in the fourth round may have been earlier than some were expecting. Still, the Rams needed variety in their running back room and that’s part of what makes Jarquez Hunter so exciting.
When the Rams drafted Kyren Williams in the fifth round, the plan always seemed to be to use him and Cam Akers as a tandem. Williams’ injury in 2021 and then the Akers drama in 2023 derailed that. While Hunter is a limited, scheme-specific version of Akers, he brings the same 4.4-speed, one-cut decisiveness, and physical running style.
In the areas that Williams struggles, Hunter thrives. The now Rams rookie had the second-highest career explosive run rate in this draft...
