Cam Akers Official Thread

[Kaz]

I have Akers around RB 13-15, which I think is fair. I think giving him more time away from the injury will allow him to potentially get his groove back ala a late 90's movie. However, I agree that he has just looked average so far, but the Rams OL is certainly doing him no favors.

[FantasyFreak]

I have Akers around RB 13-15, which I think is fair. I think giving him more time away from the injury will allow him to potentially get his groove back ala a late 90's movie. However, I agree that he has just looked average so far, but the Rams OL is certainly doing him no favors.

That's actually where I have him, low teens. As for the OL, I agree, and has me worried for next season for any RB there. I am not putting that position nearly as high as I did coming into this season. Rams have cap issues, pick issues, they will likely lose 1 starter for sure in Whitworth, and it's going to be a struggle for them to make any drastic improvements up front.

[StripesOfKC]

I'm generally pro Akers compared to most of this thread but Henderson looked like the best Rams back

Hoping it's just injury recovery

[FantasyFreak]

I'm generally pro Akers compared to most of this thread but Henderson looked like the best Rams back

Hoping it's just injury recovery

It's amazing Akers is out there at all. With that being said, personally, I can't say it's a given he will return to pre-injury form. We still don't have much data, or positive data on the injury for his position, and so far, his isn't either. Obviously there were no real concerns for him playing this quickly or often, so we shall have to wait and see what next season looks like, but he's been playing football for a month plus now, and doesn't look like the same guy, so it's concerning for my personal outlook on him, and where I can justify ranking him.

[StripesOfKC]

I'm generally pro Akers compared to most of this thread but Henderson looked like the best Rams back

Hoping it's just injury recovery

It's amazing Akers is out there at all. With that being said, personally, I can't say it's a given he will return to pre-injury form. We still don't have much data, or positive data on the injury for his position, and so far, his isn't either. Obviously there were no real concerns for him playing this quickly or often, so we shall have to wait and see what next season looks like, but he's been playing football for a month plus now, and doesn't look like the same guy, so it's concerning for my personal outlook on him, and where I can justify ranking him.

The situation is incredible, the draft prospect profile was incredible but the injury definitely lowers his floor

He nearly fumbled Brady into another Super Bowl and now Mcvay stubbornly shooting Akers up the middle for one yard over and over again nearly lost them a Super Bowl that should have not been that close (if they'd just let Stafford chuck it to Kupp before the last drive)

Their resources are limited and Michel will be gone but they may still bring in a cheap vet. I will say though Mcvay really does not trust Henderson for whatever reason...like at all

[FantasyFreak]

I'm generally pro Akers compared to most of this thread but Henderson looked like the best Rams back

Hoping it's just injury recovery

It's amazing Akers is out there at all. With that being said, personally, I can't say it's a given he will return to pre-injury form. We still don't have much data, or positive data on the injury for his position, and so far, his isn't either. Obviously there were no real concerns for him playing this quickly or often, so we shall have to wait and see what next season looks like, but he's been playing football for a month plus now, and doesn't look like the same guy, so it's concerning for my personal outlook on him, and where I can justify ranking him.

The situation is incredible, the draft prospect profile was incredible but the injury definitely lowers his floor

He nearly fumbled Brady into another Super Bowl and now Mcvay stubbornly shooting Akers up the middle for one yard over and over again nearly lost them a Super Bowl that should have not been that close (if they'd just let Stafford chuck it to Kupp before the last drive)

Their resources are limited and Michel will be gone but they may still bring in a cheap vet. I will say though Mcvay really does not trust Henderson for whatever reason...like at all

They'll have to bring in someone, no way Funk or the Z Jones will be their 3rd back, IMO. I wouldn't say his prospect profile was incredible, it was good, but his sub 5.0 YPC was a red flag on his profile, elite profiles don't have that. The situation WAS incredible. However, as I said, it's not going to be nearly as good next year. Still better than a bunch of places, but certainly not the same as coming into this year. Woods coming off an ACL, and now OBJ maybe too? if he even returns, and I wonder what their passing game is going to look like. They may have a bit more trouble moving the ball next year, but selling out to win the SB paid off for them.

[Finfansteve]

I mean, the Rams OL was giving them nothing. He was met behind or at the line so much during that game.

He lacked burst, and just doesn't look the same. No wiggle. I agree the line wasn't good. Henderson looked better, no doubt. However Akers just looks like an average RB since his return. Nothing special at all. Maybe he gets better, maybe he doesn't, but so far, his return from the achilles, though fast, has not been a success in terms of how he has looked on the field. That OL is going to be a problem next year, too. No sensible person should be putting Akers anywhere near the top 5 at this point. It was getting out of control, and now it's going to come back to a sensible place. The amount Henderson was used, will definitely be a factor for ceiling next year, and TBH, that Rams teams RB may not have that high a ceiling. This is a very different team from the one Gurley was on, and how it plays.

This is perfectly well stated and 100% on how we should all be feeling on this player

[Kurt G.O.A.T.]

who would have thought henderson would look like the best rb out of the three in the superbowl.

just weird how every handoff to akers or sony had a defender in their face as soon as they secured the ball.

[Cameron Giles]

Achilles injuries are still no joke to come back from.

Props to him for even being able to get on the field and give them something. I don't think he'll this bad next season. The offseason should be beneficial to him.

[Ice]

I have never been much of a fan of Akers or Henderson for that matter. Both backs have desire and give effort is seems but at RB, that isn't enough especially if your line can't run block.

Don't see either as a legit long term RB1's so IMO it doesn't matter much where they are ranked. I would not want either as my RB2 and would hate it if Akers was my RB1. Akers still has believers so if I owned him I would try to find that owner and sell him.

The Rams have RBBC written all over them.

[DynastyKing23]

I have to admit akers has looked awful this post season after his return. Lot of good run defenses and it is so soon after his injury, honestly the rams backfield looked terrible all post season regardless of who was playing at rb.

Wish he looked better so I could sell but honestly all you can do is hold at this point. I do think a full off season of rehab and workouts will help akers but not sure he'll ever reach the hype he had last off season.

[BabyChark23]

I have never been much of a fan of Akers or Henderson for that matter. Both backs have desire and give effort is seems but at RB, that isn't enough especially if your line can't run block.

Don't see either as a legit long term RB1's so IMO it doesn't matter much where they are ranked. I would not want either as my RB2 and would hate it if Akers was my RB1. Akers still has believers so if I owned him I would try to find that owner and sell him.

The Rams have RBBC written all over them.

I find this part of the take a little confusing. Akers routinely dominated the touches throughout the post season. Henderson not on the field, Henderson on the field, didn’t matter. He doesn’t look good by any means, and I agree with you that he is clearly not a RB1, but Mcvay uses him as a lead back and gives him a large majority of touches whenever he is healthy. They may go to a committee next year when everyone is healthy, but nothing I saw this post season indicated committee.

[dynastyninja]

Akers feels like a dart throw as an asset more than a workhorse back. McVay usually has no problem creating fantasy RB1s in his offense, but Henderson will compete with him for touches.

He's back amazingly fast from the achilles, but I wonder if he's at full strength.

I do think Akers has talent, but he doesn't strike me as significantly better than Henderson.

[Ice]

I have never been much of a fan of Akers or Henderson for that matter. Both backs have desire and give effort is seems but at RB, that isn't enough especially if your line can't run block.

Don't see either as a legit long term RB1's so IMO it doesn't matter much where they are ranked. I would not want either as my RB2 and would hate it if Akers was my RB1. Akers still has believers so if I owned him I would try to find that owner and sell him.

The Rams have RBBC written all over them.

I find this part of the take a little confusing. Akers routinely dominated the touches throughout the post season. Henderson not on the field, Henderson on the field, didn’t matter. He doesn’t look good by any means, and I agree with you that he is clearly not a RB1, but Mcvay uses him as a lead back and gives him a large majority of touches whenever he is healthy. They may go to a committee next year when everyone is healthy, but nothing I saw this post season indicated committee.

Not confusing to me. The Rams are long in the tooth in their O line and Akers isn't very good between the tackles. They lack team speed at RB and this will/should be addressed. The Rams probably averaged less than 2 yards per carry in that game. Akers didn't sniff 4 YPC the entire playoffs. He wasn't effective at all against better teams.

The definition of insanity comes into play some and coaches do adapt. The Rams had 2 running plays that mattered the entire game. 1 by Akers late and one jet sweep by Kupp in their 23 rushing attempts. Akers had 13 attempts.

The Rams were extremely fortunate that their D Line was 5X better than the Bengals O line or they would have been blown out yesterday. Even against that dominate D Line the Bengals could actually run the ball.

[BabyChark23]

I have never been much of a fan of Akers or Henderson for that matter. Both backs have desire and give effort is seems but at RB, that isn't enough especially if your line can't run block.

Don't see either as a legit long term RB1's so IMO it doesn't matter much where they are ranked. I would not want either as my RB2 and would hate it if Akers was my RB1. Akers still has believers so if I owned him I would try to find that owner and sell him.

The Rams have RBBC written all over them.

I find this part of the take a little confusing. Akers routinely dominated the touches throughout the post season. Henderson not on the field, Henderson on the field, didn’t matter. He doesn’t look good by any means, and I agree with you that he is clearly not a RB1, but Mcvay uses him as a lead back and gives him a large majority of touches whenever he is healthy. They may go to a committee next year when everyone is healthy, but nothing I saw this post season indicated committee.

Not confusing to me. The Rams are long in the tooth in their O line and Akers isn't very good between the tackles. They lack team speed at RB and this will/should be addressed. The Rams probably averaged less than 2 yards per carry in that game. Akers didn't sniff 4 YPC the entire playoffs. He wasn't effective at all against better teams.

The definition of insanity comes into play some and coaches do adapt. The Rams had 2 running plays that mattered the entire game. 1 by Akers late and one jet sweep by Kupp in their 23 rushing attempts. Akers had 13 attempts.

The Rams were extremely fortunate that their D Line was 5X better than the Bengals O line or they would have been blown out yesterday. Even against that dominate D Line the Bengals could actually run the ball.

Ok, so are you saying that because the run game has been so bad this post season that the Rams will realize that and adapt by bringing in new blood which will operate in a committee?

I agree with you that the Rams run game was terrible, but the way they distributed touches seems to indicate they still like Akers as a lead back.