Sean McVay must have felt pretty confident that he had the right pieces in place at running back last May after the Rams had drafted Darrell Henderson, Cam Akers, and Jake Funk in each of the previous three years. Los Angeles also employed popular undrafted free agent options with Xavier Jones and Raymond Calais expected in camp.
And yet, none of those five players led the 2021 LA Rams in rushing yards.
The Rams lost Akers before training camp, then Calais and Jones shortly thereafter. Funk was healthy enough to appear in 10 games and he finished with fewer rushing attempts and yards than midseason pickup Buddy Howell.