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Darrell Henderson Jr. expected to get bulk of carries again in Week 2
Cameron DaSilva
September 17, 2021 1:04 pm PT
Sony Michel was a non-factor in the Rams’ season opener, playing just three snaps against the Bears and getting one carry in the win. Darrell Henderson Jr. was clearly the top running play, getting 16 carries and playing 94% of the offensive snaps.
Though it’s possible Michel’s role will grow as the season progresses, that’s not expected to be the case in Week 2 against the Colts. Sean McVay indicated Friday that Henderson will still be the starter and the Rams want to get him into the flow of the game after he had few opportunities in the first half of the season opener.
McVay said nothing to suggest Michel will be any more involved this week than he was against the Bears, so for those who own Michel in fantasy, this is another week to stash him on the bench.
“I wouldn’t say that,” McVay said of whether a bigger role is planned for Michel this week. “I think you have confidence that you can utilize him if need be, but Darrell I thought did a great job and Darrell’s going to start the game. We want to really get him into the flow of it – and that was really a large part of it too. The first half didn’t really even represent him getting into the flow of the game because we had so few touches in the run game, but you do want to be able to say, Hey, if we’re able to sustain drives, be able to get some things off, could you expect to see Sony? That’s a possibility, but Darrell’s a guy that’s done a really nice job and I was really pleased with how he got stronger as the game went on.”
Henderson looked like a workhorse back when Cam Akers went down and nothing has changed to suggest he won’t remain the RB1 in Los Angeles moving forward. It’ll take an injury or a significant decline in production to bump him from that spot.
