Darrell Henderson leads backfield on SNF

From the very first game of the season through Sunday night’s contest against the 49ers, the Rams’ backfield has been a constant game of “Guess Who?” between their trio of ball-carriers.

Against the Cowboys in Week 1, after all of the hype surrounding rookie Cam Akers during the offseason, it was veteran Malcolm Brown that handled the majority of carries, including most of the goal-line work which ended in him scoring his only two touchdowns of the season.

Through Weeks 2 and 3, it became the Darrell Henderson show as the second-year player out of Memphis rushed for over 200 yards and scored a handful of touchdowns. In Week 4 against the lowly Giants, it was Brown again who got most of the work.

In the team’s Week 5 victory over Washington, it was finally Akers who led the team in rushing yards, but Henderson was the one who scored another pair of touchdowns.

In tonight’s game against the Niners, it was all Henderson as he received 14 of the 16 total carries by a running back, finishing 88 rushing yards and a would-be rushing score that was negated by a penalty.

Also of note, Akers did not record a single touch on the night. He was active, but only received a handful of snaps. Brown received the other two carries while catching three of four passes for 18 yards.

As of now, after six games, Henderson leads the Rams in rushing with 348 yards, followed by Brown with 217 and Akers with 113.

For fantasy purposes, owning a Rams running back has been incredibly frustrating. Take me for example, who has only started Henderson in the weeks he doesn’t score or rack up a ton of yardage. It makes me want to pull my hair out, to say the least.

Against the 5-1 Bears, it could very well be Henderson at the helm again. But against a stout front that possesses a good pass rush, the veteran in Brown could see the majority of the snaps due to his prowess in pass protection and ability to churn out the tough yards when needed.

Adjust your fantasy lineups accordingly, but in terms of real-life football, the Rams will needs both sides of the ball to click, including the run game, if they don’t want to fall victim to Nick Foles and a surprising Chicago team.