The Los Angeles Rams shocked many by taking down the Seattle Seahawks on the road in Week 1 with a convincing 30-13 victory. In the impressive win over the Seahawks, the Rams deployed more of Kyren Williams than Cam Akers in the game, which could indicate how the backfield will shake out moving forward.
Akers began the game as the starter following a strong finish to last season, but he quickly gave way to Williams. At the end of the game, Williams was on the field for 65 percent of the offensive snaps (53) compared to Akers only receiving 35 percent (28).
Buy Rams TicketsWhen looking at the box score or watching the game, it’s easy to see why Sean McVay elected to stick with Williams over Akers. Williams concluded the contest with 52 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 15 attempts. Meanwhile, Akers was extremely inefficient with 29 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 attempts.
Inefficiency has been a major issue for Akers throughout his career, falling short of averaging more than 5 yards per touch in any of his first three seasons. Akers also failed to receive a single target in the passing game, proving that he’s still not viewed as a viable weapon in the Rams’ aerial attack.
The former second-round pick has never eclipsed 18 targets in any of his first three seasons, and the Rams seemed to trust Williams more in pass protection on Sunday. Coming out of Notre Dame, Williams also flashed more as a pass catcher, combining for 77 receptions, 672 receiving yards, and four receiving touchdowns in his final two years of college.
Entering the season, we heard that Williams could have a role in the offense behind Akers. But what we saw against the Seahawks was more than just a complementary role from Williams, who certainly seized the opportunity of receiving the majority of the workload.
Given the current state of the Rams, they don’t have any reason to continue starting players who aren’t considered definitive building blocks for the future. If Week 1 is any indication of how McVay will handle the backfield this season, then Akers is in serious danger of losing his starting job to Williams sooner rather than later.
