The Rams finally found it.
For one game at least, running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum each carried the ball nearly the same number of times, rushed for nearly the same amount of yards and each scored a touchdown last week in the Rams’ victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
“We have similarities running the ball but also differences too,” Williams said. “And I think that’s what makes that 1-2 punch everybody keeps talking about.”
Before the victory over the Raiders, most of the conversation about the rushing attack centered around a question: When would coach and play-caller Sean McVay find a way to effectively use both?
Now the question is whether McVay and the backs can repeat or produce a similar performance Sunday against the Chargers and beyond.
McVay noted that Williams and Corum are interchangeable.
“As a play-caller, the best thing is you just call the plays,” McVay said. “It’s not like I have a specific menu of plays for Blake or for Kyren or vice versa.”
Williams, 26, is 5 feet, 9 inches, and 207 pounds. Corum, 25, is 5-8 and 202 pounds.
Williams wears jersey No. 23, Corum No. 24.
The Rams drafted Williams in the fifth round out of Notre Dame in 2022, and selected Corum in the third round out of Michigan in 2024.
“There’s a difference in their run style,” McVay said. “You’re defending different things. They’re nice complements.”
That was in full effect against the Raiders.
Williams rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown in 16 carries. Corum rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries.
Their effort helped the Rams take a 35-21 victory that ended a two-game losing streak and kept alive hope for a team that started the season as the Super Bowl favorite.
The two backs share a “growth mindset,” Williams said.
“It’s a great vibe, where we’re able to play off each other, not just on the football field but also in life,” he said.
They also enjoy “a healthy, competitive relationship,” Corum said.
“It’s like I want to see the best for you and he wants to see the best for me,” Corum said. “If he does something great, it’s ‘All right, can I do something greater to help the team.’
“And if I do something great, he’s like, ‘Can I do something greater.’ It’s all love, and all for the team.”
Williams, a 2023 Pro Bowl player, signed a three-year extension before last season that included $23 million in guarantees. He went into this season having rushed for at least 1,144 yards in each of the last three seasons, including more than 1,200 in each of the last two.
The game against the Raiders is what the Rams envisioned — but did not achieve — last season when they aimed to reduce Williams’ workload as a way of keeping him fresh for the latter part of the season and the playoffs.
In 2025, Williams rushed for 1,252 yards and 10 touchdowns in 259 carries. Corum gained 746 yards and scored six touchdowns in 145 carries.
So far this season, Williams has rushed for 492 yards and five touchdowns in 96 carries. He also has 32 receptions for 239 yards and a touchdown.
Corum has rushed for 316 yards and two touchdowns in 64 carries. He has 10 catches for 99 yards and a touchdown.
“I haven’t been a part of that before where you haven’t thought to yourself, ‘OK, we want to lean on these types of plays when this guy’s in and these types of plays when the other guy’s in,’” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “I think you’re really comfortable with both those guys doing everything we ask of a halfback in this offense.”
Offensive linemen said they often are unaware which running back is in the game — until they look up to see who is celebrating in the end zone.
“It’s crazy to say — but legit,” guard Kevin Dotson said. “It feels just like a plug and play. I don’t know who’s really in, and it doesn’t really matter.
“I know they can make it happen.”
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