What It Means:

"What we wanted to do was get a group that we felt really good about," McVay said when asked about his approach to distributing carries. "This enables us to say, 'We're not necessarily committed to any approach, it's a feel for the flow of the game.' But you'd like everybody to create a role for themselves, and we'll see what ends up happening then." McVay believes the Rams have "three really good backs" in 2020 second-round pick Cam Akers, 2019 third-round pick Darrell Henderson, and five-year backup Malcolm Brown. Todd Gurley saw an average snap share of 75.0 percent as the Rams' lead back last season, but McVay and company seem to be embracing a more multi-pronged approach. Akers is expected to eventually emerge as the lead back, but Henderson and Brown should stay involved along the way.

Akers is the RB33 in numberFire's preseason fantasy rankings. He's pegged for 156.9 carries, 629.4 rush yards, 27.6 catches, 209.8 reception yards, and 6.9 touchdowns as a rookie. Henderson is the RB44 and Brown is the RB65. The Rams were 26th in numberFire's advanced team rushing metric last season. Brown recorded -0.01 Rushing Net Expected Points per attempt and a 40.6 success rate. Henderson averaged -0.15 Rushing NEP per attempt with a 38.5 success rate.