Sunday Fan Poll: Which Rams player is most likely to break 1,000 yards?

There will be 17 games next season, so that is one more opportunity for a player to get over the 1,000-yard barrier. One more reason to say that “1,000 yards ain’t what it used to be,” which was pretty much just as true last season as it will be in 2021.

In terms of being a wide receiver, 1,000 yards definitely ain’t what it used to be. Quarterbacks are throwing the ball more often, receivers get more opportunities, and passing records constantly fall. However, interestingly enough, there were 20 1,000-yard receivers in the year 2005, as compared to 18 in 2020. Carolina’s Steve Smith led the league with 1,563, and Oakland’s Randy Moss was the last one in with 1,005 yards.

But with 17 games and a few more passes than runs, players like Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods should have greater odds of getting over 1,000 yards. Kupp had 974 yards in 15 games season and the one time he went into the millennium mark was 2019, when he had 94 catches for 1,161 yards and 10 touchdowns. Woods had 936 yards in 16 games last season. After not hitting 800 yards in any of his first five campaigns, Woods had 1,219 yards in 2018 and 1,134 yards in 2019.

Though DeSean Jackson, Tutu Atwell, and Van Jefferson have been added to the mix in the last two years, it is unlikely that any receiver on the Rams other than Woods or Kupp will cross over 1,000 yards, unless there is an injury.

In terms of being a running back, 1,000 yards definitely ain’t what it used to be. It should now be much more impressive when a back crosses over that mark. Backs are more often in committees and as I said, teams do favor the pass a tiny bit more than they used to. Cam Akers finds himself in a good situation for a running back, as Todd Gurley showed that not only can you exist at the position in Sean McVay’s offense — you can star in it.

Akers was a little banged up going into the year, then missed a couple games in the first quarter of the season, and therefore didn’t become the actual starter until Week 13. But he put in 390 yards over four games from Week 11-Week 14, then later rushed for 221 yards in two playoff games. Akers has shown that given opportunities, he can produce like even more than a “1,000-yard back” and I am sure that McVay is excited to give him those chances again in 2021.

Of course, Darrell Henderson can’t be dismissed and he might have been a 1,000-yard back last season, if not for the fact that he proved that he ... kinda wasn’t. Henderson was unable to push Malcolm Brown out of the picture and ultimately lost too many snaps to him, then Akers, and was basically out of the rotation by December. But Henderson doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and if anything happens to Akers, there’s little else we know of in running back competition right now. Plus, Akers is still fairly unproven and must still win the job.

So which player is most likely to get over 1,000 yards in 2021?