I think you hit the nail on the head with the "trust" issue. McVay (and many other head coaches) are reluctant to play rookie RBs a lot because few come in adept at pass pro and the last thing you want, in lieu of more pop in the run game, is your QB to miss time.
Somebody pointed out Corum got more carries (58) as a rookie than Williams (35). But if you look at the GP, Corum (17) had 3.4 carries per game. Williams (10) had 3.5. So the trust factor seems to have remained the same. Rookie RBs scare the hell out of head coaches. There are exceptions like Gurley, Gibbs, Bijan....and anybody else taken in the first round.
I think the better option is use all 3 (Williams, Corum and Hunter). Williams doesn't have the burst or tackle breaking ability of a Saquon Barkley or Derrick Henry or even Jonathan Taylor or Josh Jacobs. He also doesn't have the size and weight of those guys either but he outperformed all of them in short yardage and red zone running.
Inside the 5, KW converted 19 attempts into 12 TDs. Henry 9 of 18. Barkley 4 of 13.
On 3rd or 4th and 1 to 3 yards, KW converted first downs on 26 of them (31 attempts). That's like 85%. None of those other guys were close.
Should he be extended? Don't know. I wouldn't extend him for longer than 2 years. Even if I did, I would make sure letting him go in year 2 (or 3) of the extension wasn't crushing. The NFL personnel men seem to be leaning towards run them hard, put them away wet and don't extend them. It's not a position that gives hope to a long career. The alternative is a first round or high second round RB. Those thoroughbreds.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2025 10:26AM by PARAM.
