Since head coach Sean McVay took over, the Los Angeles Rams have been an offensive juggernaut in the NFL. Their strong running and passing game coincide with their two stars; running back Todd Gurley and quarterback Jared Goff.
Now heading into their third season under McVay, the defending NFC Champions are hoping to continue to make their offense a threat. By drafting Memphis running back Darrell Henderson in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the Rams hope to further their offense.
McVay in particular was drawn to Henderson’s skills, via Myles Simmons of TheRams.com:
“Being able to add a playmaker is the biggest thing,” McVay said. “[W]e had identified him as a guy that has a specific skillset that really can do some unique things for us offensively.”
Henderson averaged 8.2 yards per carry through his three years at Memphis. According to McVay, Henderson will have an active role in the Rams offense for the upcoming season. Henderson will play as a compliment to Gurley.
Gurley’s knee was a topic of conversation over the off-season, but McVay and general manager Les Snead have made it clear this move is not about Gurley’s knee.
Snead looked back to the team’s signing of running back Lance Dunbar in 2017 as a parallel to drafting Henderson and what he can provide as a change-of-pace back:
“If you go back to when we signed Lance Dunbar, Sean’s always felt like his offense would be, let’s call it, slightly more explosive when you have a change-of-pace-type running back,” Snead said. “So we attempted with Lance Dunbar a couple years ago — his knee didn’t work out. We thought about doing it in last year’s draft [but] a couple of ‘enemies’ chose a few of those change-of-pace backs ahead of us. So it’s always been something we’ve been trying to do, obviously, since Sean walked in and felt like it would be a nice complement.”
McVay is hoping to be able to throw opposing defenses off their game by allowing two running backs to operate. McVay also stated that an offense like this relieves the pressure on their wide receivers.
Snead stated that he informed Gurley of their decision and he was very excited about Henderson. Furthermore, Snead provided Gurley with contact information of Henderson’s so the two can officially meet.
