Kyren Williams just turned in his most productive season yet in the NFL. He set career-highs in rushing yards (1,299), rushing touchdowns (14) and yards from scrimmage (1,481), as well as total touches (350).
Unfortunately, he set a career-high in fumbles, too, with five.
Ball security has been a problem for Williams and it reared its ugly head again on Sunday in the team’s loss to the Eagles. Williams lost a fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter, which set up the Eagles deep in Rams territory with a chance to pad their lead.
In the locker room on Monday, Williams explained what happened on the play, acknowledging it’s something he needs to improve.
“It was a mid-zone play to the left and I should’ve had the ball in my left hand, and I didn’t,” he said. “And the ball was kind of low, too, and he was able to get a good punch at it and I lost it. That’s something that I need to obviously work on because those things aren’t good and it’s never good to keep fumbling.”
FUMBLE! @Eagles ball!
📺: #LARvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/QnOU4u3bce— NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2025
Williams’ five fumbles in the regular season were tied for the third-most among running backs. His three lost fumbles were tied for the most among all non-quarterbacks, and he made it four with his costly mistake in the playoff loss to Philadelphia.
When asked what Williams wants to work on this offseason, he mentioned ball security as one of his focal points.
“My ball security, that long-field speed to get out of there and really just continue to keep staying strong, continue to keep working on my body because I was able to play a complete season, so continue to keep racking those up and continue to keep having those seasons,” he said.
Williams works as hard as anyone, which is what Sean McVay loves about him. Whether it was rehabbing multiple injuries as a rookie, coming back from an ankle sprain in 2023 or continuing to get better in Year 3, Williams never stops working on his game.
There are questions about whether he’ll remain the Rams’ workhorse in 2025 but he should remain a valuable piece of the offense moving forward – even if the final memory of his season might be that untimely fumble.
