Michigan RB Blake Corum selected by Los Angeles Rams in third round of 2024 NFL Draft

Michigan Wolverines football running back Blake Corum has been selected by the Los Angeles Chargers with the 83rd overall pick in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Corum is the fifth Michigan player to be drafted this year, joining quarterback J.J. McCarthy (No. 10 to the Minnesota Vikings), defensive tackle Kris Jenkins (No. 49 to the Cincinnati Bengals), defensive back Mike Sainristil (No. 50 to the Washington Commanders) and linebacker Junior Colson (No. 69 to the Los Angeles Chargers).

“He’s a tough kid — 5-7 and ½, 205 pounds … strong,” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said on the NFL Draft broadcast. “Twenty seven reps [on the bench press at the NFL Combine]. Good athlete, 35 ½ vertical.

“You talk about a lot of carries — 675 career carries — this is a kid that carried that football team. Donovan Edwards didn’t give them a lot of production running with the football, it was all this young man getting it done.

“Efficient runner, good vision, he has a compact build. His lower-body strength makes him tough to get to the ground. He has an effective stiff arm, he has burst, he has cut-back ability, pretty good hands coming out of the backfield, effort blocker in pass protection. Could improve from a technical standpoint, but the effort’s always there. His top-end speed isn’t necessarily the caliber of some of the other guys. But you look at the production, the fact that, OK, there’s a lot of tread on the tires, but you cannot underestimate what this kid gives you on a game-to-game basis. As a No. 2 back, he can get the job done.”

“The ultimate competitor, gets the most out of who he is, in terms of pound-for-pound toughness,” analyst Louis Riddick chimed in. “This is the kind of guy that [Rams head coach] Sean McVay loves. He’s gonna absolutely love him. He runs with that kind of toughness that you need all running backs to run with, and that he’s going to demand out there in LA.”

“Vision and balance, that’s his calling card,” analyst Daniel Jeremiah said on the NFL Network. “Instinctive runner, these sharp cuts, the change of direction, he found his way into the paint a zillion times.”

Corum impressed at the NFL Combine this past winter, running a 4.53-second 40-yard dash that ranked 12th among 21 running backs. He put up 27 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press (first among running backs and tied 20th among all combine participants), ran a 4.12-second 20-yard shuttle (third among nine running backs) and clocked a 6.82-second 3-cone drill (second among six running backs).

As a Michigan Wolverine, Corum played in 45 games, taking 1,338 offensive snaps and logging 675 rush attempts. Corum is the school’s all-time leader with 61 total and 58 rushing touchdowns. His 27 rushing scores in 2023 marked a single-season program record, as did his 28 total touchdowns. His 3,737 career rushing yards rank seventh in Michigan history.

A consensus first-team All-Big Ten honoree the last two seasons (2022-23), Corum finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting, won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football for the Big Ten’s best player and was named a unanimous All-American as a junior in 2022. He became the Wolverines’ first running back to be tabbed as a unanimous All-American since Bob Chappuis in 1947.

The 5-foot-8, 213-pounder rushed for 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns and caught 11 passes for 80 yards and a score in 12 games in 2022, before suffering a season-ending knee injury that held him out of most of a 45-23 win over Ohio State, as well as the entirety of the Big Ten championship game and College Football Playoff semifinal.

He decided to return for one more season, becoming a captain and leading the Wolverines to a magical 15-0 season and national championship in 2023. Corum put up 1,245 yards on 258 carries this past year.

Corum split carries with starter Hassan Haskins his sophomore year, logging 144 rushes for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns in 12 games in 2021. He added 124 grabs for 141 yards and a score. He played in all six outings in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, rushing 26 times for 77 yards and 2 touchdowns and catching 5 passes for 73 yards.

The Michigan running back was a four-star recruit and the No. 117 overall player in the 2020 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking.