On Wednesday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings surprised everyone by trading for Los Angeles Rams running back Cam Akers. ESPN’s Seth Walder graded the move for both sides and gave the Vikings a rather glowing grade of a B+.
Even before the trade, Akers’ career has been a disappointment — in terms of both on-field production and a right Achilles injury that robbed him of most of his 2021 season. On the field, he had negative rush yards over expectation (RYOE) in every season of his career, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. He adds little in the receiving game, with just 27 regular-season receptions and one score. So why the B+ here?
Buy Vikings TicketsThere is one small reason for optimism with Akers, because the further he got from his Achilles injury, the more his performance improved. Starting from Week 10 of last season, he had plus-33 RYOE. Akers might be an upgrade over Mattison.
The move is also a low-cost proposition for the Vikings, with the move being a conditional pick swap in 2026 with the Rams sending a seventh-round pick and the Vikings giving back a sixth-round pick.
Akers comes to a Vikings team that is massively struggling to run the football with just 22 carries for 69 yards across their first two games. Can he step in and make an impact? Few know him better than Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. Maybe he knows something we don’t.
