Random Ramsdom: Cam Akers named a ‘Tier 3’ fantasy back by PFF

In a recent fantasy football article by Pro Football Focus, author Ian Hartitz discussed this year’s crop of running backs and ranked them among four distinct tiers. Four backs made it into the first tier, five more made it into tier two, and 17 more were split between tiers three and four.

The Rams’ Cam Akers was the first back named in the third tier, which was called “With some luck these dudes could bounce up two tiers”.

Here’s what Hartitz had to saw about Akers’ placement:

“It took the Rams a bit before featuring their 2020 second-round pick, but by December Akers was *the* RB in Los Angeles. Overall, he racked up 22, 31, 16, 25, 30 and 19 touches in his final six games, with Darrell Henderson being active for all but the latter three affairs. Malcolm Brown is gone; we might see the Rams get back to being a one-RB offense now that they have a back capable of rising to the occasion. Sean McVay played his featured RB1 (usually Todd Gurley) on at least 60% of the offense’s snaps in 48 of 52 games from 2017-2019; I’m betting on 2020’s committee situation being more of a blip on the radar than a sign of things to come.”

Last year was a bit of a roller-coaster as a Cam Akers owner who snagged him in just about every fantasy draft I could a year ago. The first half of the year look bleak. But that final stretch if games breathed new life into me.

While Akers may start in a lower tier simply based on the timeline of his rookie season, I think there’s little doubt he could — and likely will — end up as one of fantasy’s top backs in 2021, especially if Sean McVay cuts the crap with the committee approach.

Now for today’s links.

Rams News:

Benefits of attending all of the Rams home games in 2021 (TheRams.com)

Get to know Chris Garrett (TheRams.com)

Matthew Stafford will appear on the NFL’s schedule release show (The Rams Wire)

Questions arise about the Rams’ practice squad opportunities (Ramblin’ Fan)

NFL News:

Experts debate the 2021 NFL draft (ESPN)

Tim Tebow expected to sign with Jaguars soon (ESPN)

Check out the NFL All-Paid team of 2021 (NFL.com)

KJ Hamler and Patrick Surtain II choose their numbers for 2021 (NFL.com)

Davante Adams is behind Aaron Rodgers with whatever he chooses to do (Pro Football Talk)

Early 2022 mock draft (CBS Sports)