The Rams will take on their Sofi Stadium roommates in the Los Angeles Chargers at 4:05 PM p.m. today. It will be the penultimate preseason game for the Rams, as the regular season inches closer and closer with each day. As expected under head coach Sean McVay, the Rams will not play any projected starters or key players today. However, there is still an opportunity for players to carve out a spot on the 53-man roster.
Even though McVay and staff are likely aware of who the majority of roster spots will go to, there’s always a shot to make yourself more valuable in these preseason games. There are a number of players on the Rams roster that are on the proverbial roster “bubble,” but the player I want to focus on is second-year running back Zach Evans.
Evans, although a sixth-round selection in the 2023 draft, showed a ton of upside and promise coming out of Ole Miss. Evans played two seasons at TCU before transferring to Ole Miss to become the feature back at the latter school. Throughout three seasons in college, Evans averaged a whopping 6.9 yards per carry, rushed fr just under 2,000 yards, and had a total of 20 touchdowns from scrimmage. Evans proved to be an explosive player in college, regularly producing big yardage plays which ultimately led to the Rams selecting him.
However, Evans has yet to find the explosive plays that made him a solid NFL prospect coming out of college. In the 2023 three-week preseason, Evans amassed 23 carries for 77 yards, an underwhelming 3.3 yards per carry. Evans went on to appear in 10 regular season games for the Rams last year, rushing for just 19 yards on nine carries. That’s only 2.1 yards per carry.
Fast-forward to last week’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, and Evans has yet to find his groove. Evans carried the ball 12 times for just 28 yards, 2.3 yards per carry. Evans has yet to produce a single explosive play in the NFL, which is not good news considering his explosiveness is what enticed the Rams to select him in 2023.
The lack of explosive plays for a player entering his second year in the league typically would not be too much of a cause for concern. However, with the ascension of star running back Kyren Williams, the draft selection of running back Blake Corum, and the free-agent signing of veteran back Boston Scott, the patience for Evans has instantaneously disappeared. Not to mention, Ronnie Rivers seems to have secured a roster spot, too.
There is not much else for Evans to do other than start to produce those big plays we all know he’s capable of because if not, he could see his Rams tenure come to an end in Year 2.
