What to know about Rams’ ongoing situation with RB Cam Akers, what comes next

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/3756591/2022/11/02/rams-cam-akers-sean-mcvay/?source=emp_shared_article

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The trade deadline came and went, and there is continued uncertainty about the status of running back Cam Akers on the Rams’ roster.

A person with knowledge of the Rams’ trade conversations who was not authorized to speak publicly said the Rams received no legitimate offers (i.e., no realistic offers) for Akers before the deadline.

However, coach Sean McVay said that he, Akers and Akers’ agent, David Mulugheta, had a “really good conversation” Wednesday morning, during which Akers affirmed he would like to remain a part of the team.

“We’re working through a couple of different options,” McVay said. Because Akers cannot now be traded, if he isn’t a part of the team later, it would be because he was released.

“After we had that conversation, got a couple of different things that are some options that we can potentially do moving forward, and we’ll have clarity on that as far as getting him back (and) working with this group or if that means exploring other avenues,” McVay said. “Want to be able to explore that first one first (and) let him be able to digest some of the things that we discussed, work through that with his family … and then we’ll see what the next step is.”

The Rams first held Akers out of practice on Thursday, Oct. 14, citing “personal reasons,” and they have held him out of practice and games since. McVay, who initially called the situation an “internal” matter, later publicly confirmed the Rams were working to trade Akers.

Multiple people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly characterized it as an ongoing difference in opinion on several matters, including the overall philosophy and direction of the run game, the frequency of use for the running backs/the frequency of called runs in general, and that Akers and the Rams had simply not been on the same page since late in training camp.

These people did not know of any one particular interaction or event that served as a tipping point for the situation, which they also said did not feel hostile on either side and more so was a mutual disagreement.

“The one thing that I think is good about some of these discussions that can take place is when you get a chance to reflect on it, you can be honest about where you could do (things) differently — talking about myself, some of the expectations — and there’s a lot of confidence, there’s a lot of belief in the human being Cam Akers,” McVay said Wednesday. “You don’t want to jump to conclusions just based on a couple of things where nobody was necessarily at fault but it could have been handled better, and I always look at myself first and foremost.”

Akers did not practice Wednesday, but McVay did not rule out his availability for the Rams on Sunday against Tampa Bay.

Though all sides are hopeful for a mutual and positive resolution, two people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly said it had been simmering quietly since the middle-to-late portion of training camp.

Akers missed multiple days of training camp with what the team called a “soft tissue injury” (NFL teams are not required to produce official injury reports during camp), including the Rams’ joint practices with the Cincinnati Bengals before their preseason matchup. Akers and running back Darrell Henderson, who the Rams said was also working through a soft tissue injury, traveled with the team to Cincinnati but did not practice.

Both players returned to practice on the same day: Aug. 29.

A day after a Week 1 loss to Buffalo, McVay issued a rare direct comment about a player’s performance, saying he wanted to see an “increased level of urgency and accountability snap in and snap out” from Akers. During the regular week of media availability that followed, Akers conveyed surprise at his usage in the Bills game and acknowledged that McVay had shared that sentiment about urgency with him during training camp.

Over the next few weeks, McVay publicly expressed frustration with his offense in the Rams’ bottom-of-the-league run game.

“It starts with being able to … everybody do their job and then be able to create a little bit. We’ve got to be able to sometimes get more than what the play is blocked for,” he said after the loss, during which the Rams rushed for only 38 net yards. “Then we can’t have free runners, we can’t have guys into the backfield with penetration. … It (has) been a challenge, and it’s something that has really hurt us.”

Contextually, the Rams also have faced a barrage of injuries along their offensive line. In seven games, they have had to start seven iterations of their offensive line, including a third-string center who had never previously snapped to quarterback Matthew Stafford, and their fifth right guard.

Because Akers has not been on-site, he has not been available in a locker room setting to speak publicly about his perspective of the situation.

Akers was drafted in the second round in 2020 within a longer-term plan by the Rams to develop him into a feature back similar to those McVay has had in his offense previously. As the 2020 season began, then-rookie Akers showed promise in tandem with the more veteran Henderson, whom the Rams hoped to feature in a versatile third-down role. Akers suffered a ribs cartilage injury in Week 2 when several bodies landed on him after a carry and the pointed end of the football stuck him between the ribs (an injury that takes a while to heal but from which Akers returned after a couple of weeks). In Week 15, Akers suffered a high ankle sprain but returned to rush for 221 yards and two touchdowns in two playoff appearances.

A week before training camp in 2021, Akers tore his Achilles while working out away from the Rams’ facilities. He underwent a cutting-edge procedure called “internal bracing,” performed by Rams head surgeon Neal ElAttrache, followed by a grueling rehabilitation plan. Akers returned to the Rams’ active roster just 5 1/2 months after the initial tear — a historic recovery for an NFL player with that injury — and was active in the postseason for their Super Bowl run.

When Akers returned full-time in 2022, the Rams’ vision for their running backs seemed to have changed. McVay appeared ready to move away from a single-back workload and into a committee to present more looks to a defense in the run and pass game, with Akers and Henderson in both phases. The running backs room had also undergone several personnel changes: The team had decided not to re-sign veteran back Sony Michel, leaving Henderson as the most veteran player in the room. After moving previous running backs coach/assistant head coach Thomas Brown into a more prominent role in the passing game as tight ends coach, the Rams hired Ra’Shaad Samples to coach the running backs. This meant that Samples, widely considered an up-and-coming young coaching talent, was taking on his first NFL position. The Rams also changed offensive coordinators entering 2022 with their hire of Liam Coen in the spring.

Between issues along their offensive line and their overall inconsistency at running back (which at times has been due to health), the Rams have struggled for multiple seasons to establish an identity in their run game. Monday, McVay reacted to a question about what the point would be for the Rams to deeply evaluate all aspects of their run game, from personnel selection and development to health and on-field product.

“There’s kind of been an overhaul on what we thought we’d be able to operate with philosophically,” he said. “Everything is on the table. … It hasn’t been good enough. I take a lot of responsibility in that, but there’s been a whole lot of moving parts that have contributed to that. The answer is ‘yes,’ everything is up for discussion, and it hasn’t gone the way that we wanted. There’s a lot of reasons for it, none of which are anything other than an excuse. But these are things that we’re dealing with.”

In the short term, the Rams will explore their remaining options: to try to work it out with Akers or release him. That decision might come quickly.

“Basically … we’ve talked about a couple of different options. Wanted to be able to give him an opportunity to weigh that with his family and with his representation, and then we’ll circle back later on this afternoon and see what the next move is,” McVay said Wednesday, “whether that’s continuing to move forward with the Rams or if you explore giving him an opportunity to be able to see what that looks like with another team.”

…

The Rams turned down multiple offers for Cam Akers before the deadline and are now hoping he'll play for them again this season, per Tom Pelissero https://t.co/C1VRJHYdcM

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) November 2, 2022

InvaderRam wrote:

what exactly happened? the buzz around him seemed to be so positive before the season started.

I’ve only seen speculation

Matthew Stafford has gone from being a gunslinger to rarely pushing the ball downfield. What’s the reason for that? https://t.co/ODv7xkykQZ

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) November 2, 2022

Sean McVay clarified why Ronnie Rivers started at RB over Darrell Henderson in Week 8 vs. the 49ers. https://t.co/mUFlUI8wOS

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) November 2, 2022

Sean McVay didn’t hold back, saying he feels like the Rams are “wasting plays” when trying to run the ball https://t.co/wif8r1FuSg

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) November 1, 2022

Cody Alexander@The_Coach_A
A lot has been made about the #Rams “soft” zone coverage & how it has led to struggles in the 1st half of the season

Let’s take a look…

First, let’s put some context to this:

The #Rams are a Cover 3 based defense

They run a variation of Cover 3 on about 59% of their snaps

Cover 3, played w/ ZN CBs can leave a defense susceptible to underneath throws, especially to the outside flats

In reality, the #Rams’ D is not playing *that* poorly

@fboutsiders has them w/ a DVOA that ranks 13th overall, 4th against the run, & 19th against the pass

According to @espn, LAR is 3rd in Pass rush win rate

???? So, yes, coverage *is* the issue

The #Rams have only given up 9 passing TDs so far

That ties them for 10th in the league

But, they also rank 23rd in completion %

& the #Rams are first in the league when it comes to limiting explosive passes

They aren’t allowing them…

Why the concern?

The issue is volume of yards & where they come from

QB’s understand that when they play the #Rams, the underneath routes will be open

LAR is a top 10 team in blitz rate, but they give up a lot underneath

Let’s take a look at the #49ers game…

Here is a look at Jimmy G’s passing chart against the #Rams…

An overwhelming majority are under 20yds

This is because of how LAR plays their zone coverages

8 of Jimmy’s 25 passes went over 10 yds

Looking at the yards after receptions,

& you see a bigger picture

Both TEs & the RB (McCaffery) had 142 yards after they caught the ball (CM had 60!)

That is ~62% of the yardage!

Here is how the #49ers attacked the #Rams:

>RB option routes on Safeties from depth or ILBs
>Push routes to the flats
>Slants away from the 3 WR side (5-Out), attacking the soft area behind the 3-Dropper
>”Gift” flat pass under coverage
>Early-down PA suck-up

All of these are by design & attack the #Rams’ bend-don’t-break coverage mentality

Though it may be concerning for fans, LAR’s DC (Morris) has made a concerted effort to play ZN

It’s part of the system

???? LA only runs C1 ~7% of their snaps

Why?

Personnel

Playing man would make sense for the #Rams

They have an elite pass rush & one of the better CBs in the #NFL

So why not play man?

The design of the defense is for the Safeties to play ZN coverage & occupy space, not a man

Plus, hey give up 16+ YPR in C1 ??

In order to play man, you need a Ni & a DS that can play man coverage

???? The DS on the TE & the Ni as a slot

The issue is offenses feast on this

Even the #Cowboys, who ran C1 ~67% of their snaps in ’21 are playing it much less (~22%)

No team is over 36%

What’s the real issue?

It is a combination of the offense struggling, giving opposing teams more snaps

…& the changing tides in the NFL

Teams are now used to seeing top-down coverages & are taking advantage of a defense that gives them space underneath

A 5yd run is 5 yds, but a 5yd pass can turn into 10, 15, 20+

Should the #Rams play more man coverage, or at least tighter ZNs?

Maybe…

But it changes the overall philosophy of the defense, & wholesale change in the middle of the season is never a good thing

3rd quarter, niners just went up 17-14, this is how the rams respond on the next drive, 2nd & 7, what is this, what is this supposed to be? pic.twitter.com/0glHF0auyx

— roberto clemente (@rclemente2121) November 1, 2022

I'd trade 40 first-round picks to get a new duo at guard https://t.co/ecoZsqN2Kk

— Sosa Kremenjas (@QBsMVP) October 31, 2022

It's hard to explain how Donald moves, but it's unlike everyone else playing DT. The ball being gone the second the QB's foot hits 6 yards hides how insanely fast Donald wins here. pic.twitter.com/DFQGchX2Nc

— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) October 31, 2022