Todd Gurley has been the topic of conversation for much of the Los Angeles Rams season in 2019. Their offseason was focused on his health, and now their regular season has focused on his lack of touches.
Whatever the issue may be, Gurley has still been able to get work done as necessary. Malcolm Brown has also stepped up to prove his worth as a more than capable backup.
However, one running back has seen hardly any playing time at all is rookie Darrell Henderson, who was brought in to be a “change of pace” back that McVay thought would pair nicely with his offense. So far this year, that plan has not come to fruition despite the Rams using a third-round pick on the Memphis product.
Henderson has only played in 12 snaps this year, only two of those being with the offense. According to Steve Rebeiro of Rams Wire, head coach Sean McVay is going to evaluate Henderson’s playing time throughout the season:
“I think that’s one of those things that we’re going to look at and are evaluating,” Sean McVay stated regarding Henderson’s lack of playing time. “It’s our job and it’s my job to make sure we find a way to continue to develop him and give him an opportunity, because I think he is a guy who can help us whether it’s immediately or whether it’s later on in the season.”
Continuing to develop Henderson should be a priority for the Rams. With Gurley seemingly in a decline due to his arthritis in his knees, having another great running back could be a bigger priority sooner rather than later.
Possibly due to his health, Gurley has seen only 67 carries this season. The Rams have had 115 rush attempts in 2019, so a lack of touches for Henderson doesn’t make much sense when seven other Rams players have had rush attempts of their own.
Despite that, McVay is going to try and work Henderson into the offense more in the weeks to come:
“He’s done a nice job, it’s really just kind of that ultimate deal of figuring out, ‘All right, how do you get him with the amount of guys involved that you feel like are deserving touches?’ That’s a positive problem for us, but that’s something that I think you could expect us to see trying to find creative ways to maybe get him going a little bit.”
Shaking things up might be just the jumpstart the Rams offense needs. Although they have still been very good in 2019, they have been nowhere near as explosive as they were a year ago.
