The Los Angeles Rams made the curious decision to cut Pharoh Cooper late in the year, but it was necessary in order to make space for C.J. Anderson. With Todd Gurley’s knee injured and Malcolm Brown out for the year, the Rams needed depth in the backfield.

He arrived just before Week 16 and stepped up in a big way with Gurley out. Unfortunately, the success of a shared backfield couldn’t be sustained in the NFC championship and Super Bowl, making some question whether the Rams are better off with Gurley as the unquestioned No. 1 back.

Anderson is a free agent and while he provided immense value late in the year, it might be best for L.A. to let him walk in March.

2018 stats

With Rams: 43 carries, 299 yards, 2 TDs (46 carries, 189 yards, 2 TDs in postseason)
With Panthers: 24 carries, 104 yards, 0 TDs
Pro Football Focus grade: 72.1 (Unranked)

Analysis

It would be foolish to say Anderson didn’t have an impact on the Rams down the stretch because he most certainly did. He helped lift them to victory in their final two regular season games, and against the Cowboys in the divisional round, he and Todd Gurley ran all over Dallas en route to victory.

He was a bulldozing back who defenders didn’t want to tackle, running over linebackers and defensive backs at the second and third levels. He was a nice complement to Gurley, who’s more of a slasher and outside runner. The one-two punch of Gurley and Anderson was a beautiful thing against Dallas, but neither player was particularly effective in the following two games.

Anderson isn’t necessarily a versatile back, but he’s a hard runner and holds up extremely well in pass protection – something that’s very important in the Rams offense with all the play action they run. Though he’s somewhat one-dimensional as a between-the-tackles runner, he makes it work by gaining yards after contact.

Without him, the Rams may not have made it as far as they did, especially considering the way he played against Dallas with 123 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. He’ll most certainly land with someone this offseason after showing he can still be successful in the NFL, but it remains to be seen if that will be with the Rams.

Positional need: Low

As good as Anderson was and as helpful as he proved to be in Gurley’s absence, it’s possible his arrival in L.A. had a negative effect on the offense, too – especially if Gurley was indeed healthy. The Rams offense was at its best when Gurley was the marquee back, not sharing significant touches with anyone. When Anderson arrived and McVay tried to split carries between them, it worked just once in three games.

Against the Saints in the conference championship, Anderson had 44 yards on 16 carries. Gurley, on the other hand, got just four carries and rushed for 10 yards. Against the Patriots in the Super Bowl, Gurley carried it 10 times for 35 yards, while Anderson had seven carries for 22 yards.

With a player of Gurley’s caliber and with the money he’s being paid, backup running back shouldn’t be a high priority. They averaged 33 points per game in the regular season and had no trouble moving the ball on offense. Malcolm Brown was a solid No. 2 back when healthy and John Kelly showed flashes of potential at times, too.

Gurley’s the highest-paid back in the league and has more touches, yards and touchdowns than any other player the last two years. If the Rams want to maximize his value, they can’t use a running back by committee.

Prediction: Signs two-year, $6.5 million elsewhere

Veteran running backs have a hard time making significant money. They wear down as time goes on and while Anderson is only 27 years old, he’s not exactly the young buck that some of these other players are.

It’s hard to fathom paying him more than players like Melvin Gordon, Sony Michel, Nick Chubb, Dalvin Cook and Joe Mixon, but at $3.25 million per year, that’s exactly what could happen. Obviously, all of those players are on their rookie contracts, but it shows the value teams can get out of drafting running backs.

The Rams can keep Malcolm Brown on an original-round tender at $2 million, or even bump it up to a second-round tender for $3.1 million in 2019. He’ll be cheaper than Anderson in the short-term, and with John Kelly as RB3, they have good depth at the position.

It’s time for the Rams to get back to their more dynamic offense of Gurley being the workhorse and letting him dominate the touches.