[Elvis]

BLAKE CORUM | Michigan 5076 | 205 lbs. | 4SR Marshall, Va. (St. Frances) 11/25/2000 (age 23.42) #2

BACKGROUND: Blake Corum, the oldest of four (three younger sisters), grew up in Marshall — a one-stoplight, rural town about 50 miles west of Washington, D.C., where both of his parents (James and Christina) also were raised. (Corum: “I’m a country boy. I come from the country.”). He started playing sports like baseball and football at age 5 (often coached by his father), and competition quickly became his passion. He played for the Seahawks in pee-wee football and then the Maryland Heat, one of the most respected youth teams in the area (teammates with several future FBS players, like WR Rakim Jarrett). Corum was courted by several area high schools, and he spent his freshman and sophomore years at St. Vincent Pallotti, a private high school in Laurel, Md. , that was a two-hour daily commute (one way) for the family. After two productive seasons, he looked for a larger stage and transferred to St. Frances Academy, a private boarding school in Baltimore, where he lived on campus and was coached by Biff Poggi. As a junior, Corum rushed for 1,415 yards and 20 total touchdowns. As a senior, he l ed St Frances to an 11-1 record and No. 3 national ranking — the team’s only loss of the 2019 season came against Bryce Young-led Mater Dei. Corum finished his final season with 1,266 rushing yards on 145 carries and 19 touchdowns, while adding 152 receiving yards and 3 t ouchdown grabs to earn 2019 Gatorade Player of the Year in Maryland. A four-star recruit, Corum was the No. 12 running back in the 2020 recruiting class and the No. 6 recruit in Maryland. (Four of the top seven recruits out of Maryland in 2019 came from St. Frances). As an eighth grader, he’d already received FBS scholarship offers from Rutgers, Temple and Toledo, and his offer sheet surpassed 20 schools by the end of his sophomore year. After he transferred to St. Frances, Corum added several high-profile offers, including LSU, Michigan, Ohio State and Tennessee. Prior to his senior year, he committed to the Wolverines over the Buckeyes and was the only running back in Michigan’s 2020 recruiting class. Poggi, who is now the head coach at Charlotte, was an analyst at Michigan in 2016, then was hired to be Wolverines associate head coach in 2021. Corum’s father owns and operates Corum’s Lawn & Landscape, where Blake worked during the pandemic to complement his workout routine. Corum was expected to leave early for the 2023 NFL Draft, but a late-season knee injury pushed him to return for his senior year. He declined his invitation to the 2024 Senior Bowl.

YEAR (GP/GS) CAR YDS AVG TD REC YDS AVG TD NOTES
2020: (6/1) 26 77 3.0 2 5 73 14.6 0 Pandemic-shortened season
2021: (12/1) 144 952 6.6 11 24 141 5.9 1 Third team All-Big Ten
2022: (12/12) 247 1,463 5.9 18 11 80 7.3 1 Unanimous All-American; Big Ten RB of the Year; Missed final two games (left knee)
2023: (15/15) 258 1,245 4.8 27 16 117 7.3 1 First team All-American; Big Ten RB of the Year; First team All-Big Ten; Led FBS in rush TDs
Total: (45/29) 675 3,737 5.5 58 56 411 7.3 3
HT WT HAND ARM WING 40-YD 20-YD 10-YD VJ BJ SS 3C BP
COMBINE 5076 205 9 28 7/8 70 1/8 4.53 2.65 1.59 35 1/2 - 4.12 6.82 27 (no broad jump — choice)
PRO DAY 5074 204 9 1/4 28 3/4 70 1/8 - - - - - 4.13 - - (shuttle and skills only — choice)

STRENGTHS: Makes quick decisions and expertly uses his blockers … agile athlete, and pairs his feet with his eyes on inside zone … not only finds the cutback lane but also has the ankle flexion and foot gather for tight cuts without gearing down … compactly built wi th excellent lower-body strength … runs low to the ground with the contact balance to bounce/spin off tacklers who don’t wrap up … finishes each run and won’t concede at contact … has a high b atting average in short yardage (stays behind his pads, finds a hint of space and drives his powerful legs) … responsible for 24 runs of 20-plus yards over the last two seasons … has some kick-return experience (18/400/0) … maniacal worker, and the coaches forced him to rest and develop more moderation to his workout routines (former Michigan RB coach Mike Hart: “He wants to be great, and nothing will slow him down from doing that.) … named a 2023 team captain (Charlotte head coach Bigg Poggi, who coached Corum in high school and at Michigan: “You coach your whole life and probably will never have a guy like this.”) … rushed for a touchdown in all 26 games his junior and senior seasons (not counting the 2022 Ohio State game, in which he played only four snaps) … visited the end zone so much he bought property there, setting the Michigan records for rushing touchdowns in a season (27) and career

WEAKNESSES: Rocked-up musculature, but his overall frame is smaller than desired … aggressively presses the action but plays too fast at times and could use more patience to allow lanes to present themselves … don’t expect him to be a push-the-pile runner in the NFL … dump-off screen option, but he wasn’t asked to run the full running-back route tree … really short arms, which show up in pass protection … overeager as a pass blocker, often leaving his feet t oo early … only five career fumbles — but three came in 2023 … suffered a torn meniscus, sprained MCL and “severe” bone bruise in his left knee (November 2022), wh ich forced him to miss that season’s final two games.

SUMMARY: A two-year starter at Michigan, Corum was the lead back in offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore’s gap/zone scheme. After becoming the Wolverines’ starter in 2022, he established himself as the straw that stirred the offensive drink and led the FBS in rushing touchdowns (27) in 2023 — accounting for at least one touchdown run in all 26 games he played the last two seasons. Jim Harbaugh puts Corum in the same conversation as Frank Gore as the best running backs he ever coached. (Harbaugh: “There’s no doubt that Blake will be right on the same dance floor as Gore in every way as a player.”) With the instinctive way he pairs his eyes and feet, Corum has terrific vision and an energetic lower body to read and maximize the blocking in front of him, scrapping for every yard. He wasn’t a high-volume receiving target in college and must continue to improve his consistency as a pass blocker. Overall, Corum is smaller than ideal for his run style, but he makes quick, urgent decisions with the low center of gravity and burst to bounce runs or maneuver through congestion. His determination to maximize each carry will translate well to an NFL offense, although his effectiveness on third downs will determine his upside.

GRADE: 3rd Round (No. 77 overall)

[RAMMAN76]

[Elvis]

[RAMMAN76]

Next pick kicker.

[BrooklynRam74]

This pick makes me feel better about the Fiske compensation. Rams sacrificed next year's 2 to keep this pick and pick this player. Great pick. We are going to run with our guards and backs and wear teams down.

[Elvis]

[Dare]

I'm very happy with this pick. I expected the possibility of a RB in the third round. Corum is a good fit for this offense. Like Kyren, Blake has exceptional field vision and excellent agility. Neither Kyren or Blake have breakaway speed but the Rams have a ball control run game. Move the chains, force the LBs to honor the run and keep them from immediately dropping into the intermediate zones. The Rams needed a second RB cut from the same mold as Williams to split the load and cover any injury to Williams.

I'm loving this draft to this point. Everyone of these guys so far can play immediately with Verse and Fisk being starters and Corum a key rotational RB.

Between the FA signings and this draft so far they have filled the obvious needs. The rest of the draft is improved depth and future starters for 2025 and 2026. Excellent draft so far.

[actionjack]

Solid pick, very similar to Kyren, but smaller, quicker, great contact balance. . No breakaway speed.

[/zn/]

I was saying early on I hoped the Rams would draft a back on day 2. I see there's a consensus on this so I won't be saying anything original. Just tossing my hat into the same ring.

Anyway Rams need 2 backs. That's nothing against Wms. But when he was banged up last year and missed 4 games, Rams went 1/3. And then he got banged up in the Lions game too, which suggests that a 17 game load is a little big for him to carry by himself.

What I wanted was a 1B back to share the load. None of the other Rams backs were the caliber of player to be a 1B back that way.

I wanted it on day 2 because if you look at drafts, finding a starting caliber backs after round 3 is just statistically way too hard to do. Ram can't count on scoring with a 5th again the way they did with KW.

I think Blake Corum fits all that and even reminds me a bit of KW, though he looks to be a little more elusive in traffic than Kyren (that's not a knock on Kyren, I think KW is a great back). I think Corum can be a 1B caliber back as a rookie and that that will help the Rams a lot.

[ramsman34]

Camp is gonna be wild, if the public is allowed to attend.