The Los Angeles Rams have had to do an unexpected changing of the guard with their running back room this week, as both Kyren Williams (ankle) and Ronnie Rivers (knee) suffered injuries that could keep them out for several weeks. Rivers may see time on injured reserve. Now, veteran running backs like Myles Gaskin are on the way to provide reinforcements.
The Rams already brought in a familiar face in Darrell Henderson, signing him to their practice squad. They also added running back Royce Freeman to their active roster from the practice squad, where he had been to start the season.
Now, the Rams are signing Gaskin from the Minnesota Vikings practice squad to join their active roster, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN:
More RB reinforcements on the way: the Rams are signing running back Myles Gaskin off the Vikings’ practice squad and on to their active roster, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 17, 2023
Gaskin is in his fifth NFL season, spending all of his first four seasons with the Miami Dolphins before joining the Vikings practice squad in 2023. With the Dolphins, Gaskin was a steady presence that always performed well but dealt with injuries in the meantime.
In his four seasons with Miami, he played seven, 10, 17 and four games, respectively. His best season was the 2020 campaign that saw him play only 10 games. He averaged 58.4 yards per game that season while reaching 972 total yards from scrimmage in those 10 contests.
He has six career touchdowns, two in 2020 and four in 2021. And the hope is that if he does get significant playing time with the Rams, he can be a dual threat running back and wide receiver, similar to the role he played those seasons with the Dolphins.
McVay discusses finding rhythm on ground against Cardinals
Williams and Rivers’ injuries come at an especially unfortunate time, as the Rams had just found something special with their two-man ground game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. They thrashed the Cardinals on the ground in the second half after carrying the ball only three times in the first half.
Sean McVay spoke about the team’s execution on run plays in the second half. “We got talked out of some things that we didn’t necessarily need to and wanted to be able to let them set their pads and be able to go downhill,” McVay said.
“(I) thought it was a great mixture of things that they were able to allow us to get off. You have some explosive runs when you’re able to have 10 and 17 and then a 30-yard hit. I mean those are big time deals and it was awesome. Their execution is what enabled us to be able to do that. Really proud of those guys.”
