In the weeks before Los Angeles Rams training camp was set to begin, Blake Corum was on the opposite side of the country, challenging his body in ways he never had before
The third-year running back was inside the Team Ascension Sports Academy in Fredericksburg, Va., where he used to drive an hour before middle school and high school at 4 a.m. Six years later, he found himself trying new movements for the first time
In one of them, he explodes through one leg against a resistance band attached to a squat rack. In another, he props up one foot on a bench behind him with two dumbbells in each hand, then launches the planted leg
He will also leap up from two knees to land his right foot on a foam pad, then back to an overturned BOSU ball on his left while catching a rubber weight in one hand
These have appeared in videos that have gone viral, shared on Instagram more than 80,000 times and reaching NFL Network. And they have Rams players and coaches dreaming of what they and Corum might be able to build
“I did see a couple of those videos,” coach Sean McVay said, “and they look cool as s—. It’s impressive. I want to see him make people miss like that in the hole.”
Corum’s inspiration to take his training to this level was about blending the old with something new. His throw-back journey began with a number change, back to his childhood 24. It continued with buying a house near his hometown of Marshall, Va., to start raising his baby daughter Zara, who was born in May
“I just needed to go back to my roots,” Corum said
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Corum tried to wrap everything around both his roots and the newfound purpose he finds in Zara’s crib. He started doing yard work in the humidity of a Virginia summer. He cut sweets out of his diet and rewired his body clock to 3:30 a.m. alarms, all to endure the mentally and physically taxing workouts
Teammates are starting to see glimpses of the transformation
“He’s a lot leaner,” running back Kyren Williams said. “He looks a lot more explosive.”
One day this summer, he called Kevin Johnson, his trainer from middle school and high school, and told him he needed these workouts. They’ve helped him reflect on how he became Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019 and a four-star recruit who won a national championship at Michigan and was selected by the Rams in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft
The goal now is staying in an NFL that, especially for running backs, is sometimes referred to as Not For Long. Last year’s breakout of 746 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 5.1 yards per carry for the league’s No. 1 scoring offense needed to be the start of something greater
The Rams are dreaming of a Super Bowl after the return of reigning MVP Matthew Stafford, the blockbuster additions of cornerback Trent McDuffie and two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. Corum feels the need to help. He wants to lead, not to follow
“Reaching the NFL was a dream, but my dream is to be successful in whatever I do,” Corum said. “I’m not going to stop until I feel like I reached that success. When that day ends, I’ll stop playing football and I’ll go chase something else. But I’m not close to the success that I want in the NFL.”
Last season, Corum showcased straight-line speed and sharp vision, and grew in pass protection. But he didn’t see his body movements or the decisions behind them as elite. So Johnson designed a circuit of fast-twitch, one-leg movements designed around verbal commands
Blake Corum and longtime trainer Kevin Johnson have worked to develop the third-year back into an elite talent. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Johnson)
“At the end of the day, it’s not just a power game,” Johnson said. “The NFL has plenty of power, of course. That’s the calling card. But it’s about the guys who have the balance, the control, the actual ability to plant their foot, get lateral and get linear without losing tenths of a second.”
Corum and Williams decided they needed to add explosion to Corum’s game. Corum can’t necessarily count on a Rams offensive line that was dominant, cohesive and mostly healthy last season to be the same. And he wasn’t going to be a bystander next to a passing game that can dominate with play-action, no-look passes, Puka Nacua highlights, Davante Adams touchdowns and MVP-level play from Stafford, especially if there’s any natural regression
Williams and Corum combined for just shy of 2,000 yards last season — 1,998 to be exact — but hit a wall in the playoffs, when none of their 70 combined carries topped 20 yards. To beat elite defenses and maximize the Rams’ shift to more three-tight-end sets that pull more linebackers onto the field, both decided they needed to add a quick twitch
So Corum stripped his process down to the basics last month. He performed most workouts barefoot, as Johnson saw the structure of shoes as a balance crutch, and on one foot, helping hone the ability to combine balance with direction and burst
Most of all, the two trained Corum’s mind
The NFL’s best backs can envision how to set up blocks for themselves. That skill has helped players such as Nick Chubb, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor and Bijan Robinson become the engines of their offenses in a league with many replaceable backs
“We cannot be flat-footed,” Johnson said. “We can’t afford to. In a tenth of a second, these linebackers and D-ends and even the D-linemen are moving fast at the NFL level. We have to stay ahead of them.”
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In one exercise, Corum had a leg propped up backward on a pad, or in the “piston” position, as they call it. His other was bouncing in front of him as Johnson shouted out one of three directions — left, right or middle — and in an instant, Corum shifted the bouncing foot to that spot, then back to the middle, and on and on
One misread or misstep and the exercise would fail. It’s the sort of thing that hindered Corum’s transition to the league, from a 1,400-yard rusher at Michigan to an NFL rookie who averaged just 3.6 yards per carry. Tenths of a second can define the difference between a schemed-up 5-yard run and one that breaks for 30-plus yards — or the difference between Corum’s runs in the playoffs last year and the ones he’s looking for now
The barefoot movements helped to centralize stress on the ankle, which has become the defining factor in Corum’s transition to what he and the team hope could be a Super Bowl-worthy back
“We’re creating what’s called a stiff ankle. That’s when I cut and plant, I can cut on a dime, and that stiffness allows me to explode,” Corum said. “The nervous system part is about thinking while my foot is moving. That’s the type of game it is: I have to cut here, cut here, on a dime. I’m allowing my brain and my foot to work together, working that nervous system, working that fast twitch.”
Plenty of athletes come into camp in the best shape of their lives, and barefoot movements off a bench in a weight room still have to withstand the pounding and resistance of elite NFL defenses. Theory must still become reality. But if Corum’s breakout was really just the beginning of an even bigger one, perhaps those dark mornings in a gym can become something more. It all starts with a vision and a little belief
“Everyone’s going to see the culmination of the daggone talent and the work coming together,” Johnson said. “Man, it’s going to be a blessing.”
