Davis Allen has spent most of his Rams career being praised for the dirty work - the kind that doesn’t show up in highlight packages, but absolutely shows up on game day. In Los Angeles’ Week 7 win over the Raiders, though, he did a lot more than clear running lanes and hold up in protection. He scored the Rams’ first two touchdowns.
That kind of outing doesn’t happen by accident. With Terrance Ferguson out, Colby Parkinson getting banged up and headed to the medical tent multiple times, and Tyler Higbee only giving the offense modest production, the Rams needed someone at tight end to step into a bigger role.
Rookie Max Klare was inactive, so Allen became the next man up. He answered.
The timing mattered because the Rams’ offense has been fighting through uneven play all season, and the injury picture has made things even messier. Davante Adams is expected to miss six to 10 weeks, while Puka Nacua has already sat out two games after dealing with multiple injuries. That leaves the passing game shorthanded, and it has put even more pressure on every available target.
The tight end room hasn’t exactly offered steady relief. Ferguson has been active only three times.
Parkinson has already missed one game and had to leave the field repeatedly against Las Vegas. Availability has been a problem across the roster, not just at receiver.
Against that backdrop, Allen’s production stood out. He entered Year 4 with 71 career targets, 50 catches, 425 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
His catch rate is above 70 percent, but the Rams haven’t leaned on him much as a pass catcher - he had been targeted only 14 times this season before the Raiders game. Even with that limited usage, he has shown he can produce when called on.
His career numbers tell the same story. Allen has topped 100 receiving yards in a season only once, but with his two-touchdown performance in Week 7, he now has multiple-score seasons on his résumé twice. He showed it as a rookie, too, when he caught 10 of 11 targets.
Still, the Rams have mostly kept him in the blocking role, and for good reason. He’s been too useful as an edge-sealer to pull off the field often. Since the team moved on from Johnny Mundt, Allen has been the guy asked to handle that job.
And when the Rams needed more than that against the Raiders, he delivered.
In Other News...
Blake Corum Just Made The Rams Backfield A Real Debate
With injuries forcing Los Angeles to shuffle its offense against the Raiders, Blake Corum got a bigger look in the Rams backfield and made the most of the extra snaps. The Rams also leaned on Konata Mumpfield and Tutu Atwell at wide receiver, while using 13 personnel often and rotating bodies on defense to patch over the absences.
Corums expanded role adds another layer to a backfield that already had a clear pecking order, and now the Rams have something to sort through as they try to keep the offense steady. The wider concern, though, is whether the ripple effects at receiver push the team toward outside help before the trade deadline, especially if the current mix keeps getting stretched thin. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Are Still Waiting On A Huge Pass Rush Boost
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Reports indicate Garrett could get back on the field in practice this week, with a possible Week 8 return also on the table. For a Rams pass rush that could use a boost, even the possibility of adding him back into the mix is significant, though the team still has to wait for the medical checkoff before anything becomes real. [Read more 🡒]
Blake Corum Gives Rams Exactly What This Offense Has Been Missing
Blake Corums best game of the season in Week 7 offered the Rams a useful reminder of what their backfield can look like when it starts to click. He finished with 17 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown, a sharp turn from a stretch in which his production had been limited, and he was part of a night when Kyren Williams also gave Los Angeles a much-needed jolt on the ground with a season-high 99 rushing yards on 16 carries.
For a Rams offense dealing with injuries elsewhere, that kind of one-two punch matters. The challenge now is less about whether either back can produce in isolation and more about whether both can keep contributing enough to give the attack balance and stay sustainable week after week, which is exactly the kind of rhythm this team has been trying to find. [Read more 🡒]