The Rams had a first-round pick for the first time since Jared Goff, and they used that (and their second-rounder) on defensive Seminoles. When all was said and done, they spent five of their first six picks on the defense. They also only spent two draft picks on fantasy football-relevant players. Let’s dive into them and see if we should worry about them for 2024 fantasy leagues, shall we?
FULL 2024 LOS ANGELES RAMS DRAFT RESULTS
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 19 | Jared Verse | EDGE | FSU |
| 2 | 39 | Braden Fiske | DT | FSU |
| 3 | 83 | Blake Corum | RB | Michigan |
| 3 | 99 | Kamren Kichens | S | Miami |
| 5 | 154 | Brennan Jackson | EDGE | Washington St |
| 6 | 196 | Tyler Davis | DT | Clemson |
| 6 | 209 | Joshua Karty | PK | Stanford |
| 6 | 213 | Jordan Whittington | WR | Texas |
| 6 | 217 | Beaux Limmer | OC | Arkansas |
| 7 | 254 | KT Leveston | OG | Kansas St |
Round 3, Pick 83 Overall: Blake Corum, Running Back, Michigan (5’8” 205 lbs)
Talent:
23 years ago, when he was a backup with the San Diego Chargers, Jim Harbaugh took a secretive flight to Malaysia, where he could find an unscrupulous scientist who could complete his perfect vision. He told the scientist, “I want a running back who can get exactly 3.5 yards per carry on 90% of his carries. I have a plan for the world’s dullest offense in about a quarter of a century.” The scientist took Harbaugh’s template and created Blake Corum. Possibly the least deserving back with the nickname, “the Great” in history (narrowly beating Peter the Great of Russia, I mean what are we doing here?), Corum is the perfect fit for a back that can just grind out the clock. He gets 3.5 yards on seemingly every play, which makes him perfect for third-and-short, and goal-line carries. Outside of that, he does do a pretty good job of maximizing blocking when the play calls for a long run, using his good contact balance and great burst to offset a lack of a maximum gear.
The Jim Harbaugh offense ran through Blake Corum, which is why he already has over 700 touches through his NCAA career, making him a grizzled rookie at this point. All those touches gave him a great feel for when to flow with the blocking when to hit the hole and get vertical, and also to develop pass blocking. He’s a volume back who doesn’t offer a ton much else, and that’s only going to get you so far with the workload he’s already gone through at Michigan.
NFL Comparison: Khalil Herbert
2024 Opportunity:
Kyren Williams was 2023’s out-of-nowhere breakout running back, as he finished the season averaging a league-leading 95.3 rushing yards per game, as well as 17.2 receiving yards per game, scoring 15 total touchdowns in just 12 games. Williams was a major success for the Rams’ program, but unfortunately, they fell short of the playoffs thanks to those 12 games played. In steps Blake Corum, who isn’t all that exciting as a prospect, and who has 20 pounds on Williams, while Williams has an extra inch. Corum and Williams are almost the same age (Williams 3 months older than Corum) and have nearly the same tread on their tires (Corum has 70 fewer NCAA + NFL touches than Williams).
The Rams took Corum in the third round, which means that they view him as a key part of their squad shortly. So, with that information in mind, and understanding that Corum is a short-area specialist, his role is clear: he’s the Thunder to Kyren Williams’ Lightning. Williams was an electric runner and pass catcher last season, but he couldn’t stand up to the pounding of 22 touches per game. In steps Corum, who was built in a lab to take the hardest hits, and to grind out short-area touches, the two things the Rams want to keep far away from Williams.
2024 Outlook:
Unless Kyren Williams goes down, I don’t see much value in having Blake Corum on your roster. In non-PPR leagues, his likely touchdown-only value has some appeal, as each touchdown has more value. However, I don’t particularly care to have Corum on my roster after the draft. If Kyren Williams does go down, we’ve already seen this show with the Rams: short-area bruiser without any pass-catching chops or long speed? Sounds a lot like Cam Akers.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 OUTLOOK:
Round 6, Pick 213 Overall: Jared Whittington, Wide Receiver, Texas (6’1” 204 lbs)
Talent:
When your team has Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Jonathan Brooks, and Ja’Tavion Sanders, you don’t get much of an opportunity to put out tape. That’s the problem that faced Jared Whittington as he entered the draft: there were simply too many other guys out there for him to make his name known. That’s a major red flag for me, as things won’t get easier for him at the NFL level in that regard. That having been said, he seems like he will be a player that fans at the next level will like for his ability to run block. He had no problem getting down and dirty with his assignments, throwing them to the ground, or simply doing everything in his power to ensure that they would not be a part of the play. He also had some tough-nosed catches over the middle, but they were likely a bit tougher than they needed to be because his route running leaves something to be desired. He breaks late, but there isn’t much suddenness to his game. It worked against CB3s as the rest of the squad worried about Mitchell & Worthy, but I doubt it works at the NFL level.
2024 Opportunity:
Remember the thing I said above about getting lost in the wash because of too many talented options ahead of him? Well, he goes to a team with Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams, and even Tutu Atwell ahead of him in the pecking order. It’s likely that the Rams practice squad him his rookie year to allow him to grow, or they make him active on special teams and put him in some rotational snaps on offense. All-in-all, he won’t get enough consistent production in his rookie year due to the bevy of options ahead of him. Should one go down, unfortunately, that would instead funnel opportunities to the others, and not down far enough to impact Whittington.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
Whittington is going to be the fifth option on offense, and it would be a distant fifth. I have zero interest in him in fantasy football leagues, though he seems like a fun piece for Sean McVay to have to help in real-life football more than fantasy football.
