After Cam Akers went down with a rib injury in Week 2, Darrell Henderson took over as the top running back for the Rams. He topped 100 yards from scrimmage in Weeks 2 and 3, seemingly grabbing hold of the No. 1 RB job in L.A.
Then came Week 4 and Henderson was limited to just eight carries and nine total touches. He was out-snapped by Malcolm Brown against the Giants, though neither player did much of anything with the touches they got.
Heading into Week 5, the backfield is even more crowded than it was the last two weeks. Akers is expected to return, barring a setback, while the rest of the group is also fully healthy.
So who gets the nod as the top running back for the Rams this weekend in Washington? Good question.
Akers was the starter in Weeks 1 and 2 before getting injured, so it’s reasonable to think he’ll reclaim that role now that he’s back. However, that was also before Henderson broke out with the best performances of any Rams running back this season, emerging as Pro Football Focus’ second-highest graded RB in the league.
Sean McVay clearly has a preference toward Brown in pass protection, which earned him more snaps against the Giants, but that comes at the expense of taking Akers and Henderson off the field; they’re the more explosive runners and receivers.
If I were to predict which running back will get most of the touches against Washington, I’d say it’s Henderson. He’s proved to be the best runner the Rams have thus far and even as promising as Akers is, he hasn’t shown enough yet to earn the lion’s share of touches.
Henderson, on the other hand, has. The offense was at its best against the Bills and Eagles, which not coincidentally, are when Henderson had his breakout performances. Brown doesn’t offer enough upside and big-play ability like Henderson does, and Akers has to show more before he out-snaps Henderson on a regular basis.
Assuming the Rams offense gets back to the efficient way it was playing two weeks ago, Henderson should get more opportunities than he did against the Giants – and he’ll turn it into another encouraging game.
