Rams should consider trading Kyren Williams and draft this Heisman candidate

Kyren Williams’ fumbling struggles are a major concern. Could Rams trade him in the offseason for Ashton Jeanty?

The Los Angeles Rams offense was moving the ball well on their opening drive against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football in prime time of a must-win game. Matthew Stafford found Puka Nacua for an easy seven-yard completion. Two plays later, Stafford scrambled for 15 yards and running back Kyren Williams found a crease for 27. At the Eagles 17-yard line and in the red zone, Williams fumbled. The Eagles recovered and any chance of setting the tone early was taken away.

Williams has developed a bit of a fumbling problem this season. The one against the Eagles wasn’t the only one in that game or his only fumble in a big spot. Two weeks ago against the Miami Dolphins, Christian Rozeboom intercepted quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.On the first play after the interception, Williams fumbled, giving the ball right back. Earlier this season against the Green Bay Packers, the Rams led 13-10 to start the second half with a chance to take control. While in scoring range at the Packers 27-yard line, Williams fumbled. The Packers would score a touchdown on the ensuing offensive possession and never trailed again.

Again, this hasn’t just been a problem this year. Williams has eight fumbles over the last two years combined and five of those have come in 2024. It’s also an issue that dates back to his college days at Notre Dame. Dane Brugler of The Athletic noted pre-draft in The Beast, “His ball security must improve with eight fumbles over the past two seasons.”

Right now, the issue is magnified even more given that the Rams are playing in a lot of close games and their playoff hopes are dwindling. Williams currently leads all running backs in fumbles and is tied for the lead in fumbles lost.

At some point, the fumbling has to stop. However, given that this is something that has been an issue with Williams since college, it may also simply just be part of who he is. There’s no doubt that Williams provides a lot of value to the offense. While he did fumble against the Eagles, on the next offensive possession, he scored a touchdown. Still, instead of potentially leading 14-3 or 10-3 at a minimum, the Rams were only up 7-3 with the Eagles in relative control.

Going into next offseason, there is going to be a lot of discussion on whether or not the Rams should sign Williams to a contract extension. He will still have one year left on his rookie deal, but an extension is something that will certainly get brought up. Williams very clearly plays a critical role in the offense and someone that McVay values. Over the last two years, he’s scored 21 touchdowns. His ability in short-yardage and at the goal line should not be taken for granted.

At the same time, it should not get lost that the Rams drafted a Kyren Williams clone in the NFL Draft last April in Blake Corum. When the Rams drafted Corum, the writing was on the wall that they likely were not bringing Williams back. The Rams signed Todd Gurley to a long-term extension and have since gone the cheaper route at the running back position with rookie contracts. In today’s NFL landscape, unless a team has a running back such as Saquon Barkley or Derrick Henry and has both the infrastructure and scheme for that player to succeed, it doesn’t make sense to pay a running back a top of the market contract.

With that being said, going into next year, the Rams not only will have two running backs on a rookie contract, but both have a similar skill set. As I wrote last week, this leaves the Rams running game feeling monotonous. The Rams running game lacks variety and both players look and feel the same to opposing defenses.

The fact of the matter is, Williams as a starting running back is “fine”. However, that’s all that he is – fine. The lack of explosiveness in the Rams running game is getting more and more noticeable as Williams lacks the consistent ability to break away from defenders. There have been several times this season where he’s been tripped up right before breaking off a big run.

The Rams running back ranks 46th in explosive run rate (runs of 15 or more yards) at 1.9 percent. His 0.13 missed tackles forced per rushing attempt also only ranks 37th. Williams averages just 1.98 yards after contact per attempt which ranks 52nd.

Good stats should not get mistaken for high volume. Over the past two years, when he has been on the field, Williams has been one of the highest volume running backs in the NFL.

This isn’t to say that Williams isn’t a good running back or doesn’t do anything well. Again, he’s very clearly been a valuable piece to the Rams offense. When he was out with an injury last year, the Rams running game was completely different. That’s also why the Rams drafted Corum.

Over the past few years, the Rams have traded players on the final year of their rookie deals that they no longer see as having a future on the team. They did this with Van Jefferson and Cam Akers last year and again this past summer when they traded Ernest Jones. While it seems unlikely now, there is absolutely a world in which the Rams do the same with Kyren Williams.

In the case that they were to trade Williams, the Rams should consider replacing him with Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty. This would give the Rams an explosive element to their running game while allowing them to recreate their own version of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery with a combo of Jeanty and Corum.

Jeanty leads college running backs with 5.48 yards after contact per attempt. The next closest in Jonah Coleman from Washington who trails him by a full yard. His 111 missed tackles forced is by far the best in the country. The gap between Jeanty at one and Ahmad Hardy from Louisiana-Monroe at two is the same as Hardy at two and Jordan James from Oregon at 23 who has 49.

The Boise State running back also brings explosiveness. Jeanty has 30 carries of 15 or more yards which ranks first in college football and he ranks second in break-away percentage at 55.6 percent.

Additionally, Jeanty fits the Rams run scheme. Los Angeles runs primarily a gap-based run scheme. While Jeanty runs a good mix of gap and zone, he ranks third in the nation in gap-based rushing attempts.

Advocating for drafting a running back in the first round can be difficult. However, next year’s draft may be the perfect one to do it in. When describing the 2025 draft class, ESPN’s Matt Miller said,

“To quote “Mad Men,” it’s not great, Bob! Scouts are down on this class due to the lack of elite skill at premium position groups…One AFC college scouting director I spoke to said they have only eight players with true Round 1 grades. Another NFC area scout remarked that his team would have lowest number of first-round grades he had seen in his 10-plus-year career.”

Because there isn’t an elite quarterback or left tackle, and the first round is thinner than usual, there may be more value in drafting a running back. If Jeanty is the best player available on the board, the goal should be to add talented players. The Rams offense currently lacks a game-breaker and Jeanty provides exactly that.

The Rams could certainly stick with Kyren Williams in the final year of his contract next year, before handing the reins to Corum in 2026. However, one of the best versions of the McVay offense featured a star-player at running back. There’s a reason why the Rams nearly traded for Christian McCaffrey two years ago. A move for Jeanty while trading Williams, who is very similar to what the Rams have in Corum, could be exactly what the Rams need to take the offense to the next level.