The 2023 fantasy football season is here, meaning now is the time to dive into Los Angeles Rams RB Cam Akers’ fantasy projections to determine whether or not managers are receiving a value on draft day. Did Akers do enough to finally win the job, and should he be a player you draft this year?
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Cam Akers’ 2023 Fantasy Projection
Is there a more polarizing running back in fantasy football than Akers? Even going back to when he was still a prospect, people were trying to talk Akers down, given his production at Florida State, while ignoring the fact that he played behind one of the worst offensive lines in the nation.
But it’s not as if his NFL career has gone smoothly. Akers had success as a rookie and looked strong after he broke through a three-way timeshare and rushed for 625 yards, but he could not capitalize on the success in 2021 due to a torn Achilles. Miraculously, he was able to return for Week 18, but as you would expect, he didn’t look the best on the field.
Then 2022 hit, and Akers is dead in the water for fantasy. Not only was he on the bench in Week 1, but for a while, it looked like the Rams were going to cut him outright or trade him during the season. Yet, after 84 carries through the first 12 weeks of the season, Akers rose from the dead like he was straight out of a zombie movie.
From Week 12 through the end of the season, Akers was the RB4 overall in fantasy with 512 yards and six touchdowns on 104 carries with 99 yards on 11 of 12 receiving. He played on 72% or more of the snaps in five of six games, including 100% in Week 18.
During this stretch, Akers handled 60.5% of his team carries (seventh highest) and was No. 3 in YAC/attempt at 2.5 and 11th in RYOE/attempt. Over those final three games, Akers averaged an absurd 136 total yards a game.
Akers Remains a Risk Despite a Positive End-of-Season Performance
Those are bell-cow numbers that only a handful of running backs could touch during the season. But did Akers do enough to have that role for Sean McVay? Unfortunately, there is no certainty in the Rams backfield, as we have seen, and managers banking on Akers are taking a gamble. Nevertheless, it is one that could pay off.
Not only did Los Angeles opt not to sign anyone of note in the free agent market, but the only competition added during the draft was sixth-rounder Zach Evans, who will compete with Kyren Williams and Akers.
By no means is anything set in stone yet, but my initial projections have Akers rushing approximately 210 times for 850-900 yards and 6-7 touchdowns while catching 20-25 passes for 250-270 yards with an additional score.
Should You Draft Cam Akers This Year?
Running back quickly dries up in drafts. Once you get passed the top 16-18 players, nearly everyone has a few red flags in their profile.
Although few can match the red flags and trepidation of Akers, who is currently being drafted as the RB22 in a high-stakes league with an ADP of 58, placing him at the back end of the fifth round in 12-team formats.
If you’ve ever believed in Akers before, there is no reason not to believe in him heading into 2023. If anything, this is as good as it’s been.
Akers was the hottest running back in the league to end the season, had his head coach return after speculation that he wouldn’t, and the team passed on multiple opportunities to add high-impact running backs in both free agency and the draft. It’s as good as it gets.
Having said that, would I want Akers as my RB2? No, I would prefer to have Akers on my fantasy roster as an RB3 or Flex player because while things have gone in his favor, we’ve been burned too many times to trust what the Rams will do completely.
Although I think the value is undoubtedly fair for Akers to be grouped with Dameon Pierce, Miles Sanders, Isiah Pacheco, James Conner, and Rachaad White in drafts, it will be up to the individual manager to decide how much risk they are willing to take on as Akers does remain one of the riskiest players in 2023 fantasy football redraft leagues.