The Los Angeles Rams have been shopping Cam Akers on the trade market for the last week or so, finding no takers for the third-year running back. They’ve had discussions with teams about Akers, according to Sean McVay, but no deal has come to fruition yet.
If the Rams are expecting to get anything better than a late-round pick for Akers, they’ll probably need to think again. Monday night’s deal involving James Robinson shows Los Angeles most likely won’t get much for its running back before the Nov. 1 trade deadline.
The Jaguars traded Robinson to the Jets for a conditional sixth-round pick, giving New York its replacement for injured rookie Breece Hall. That pick can become a fifth-rounder if Robinson rushes for 600 yards this season, which is very possible.
The Jets seemed like a perfect fit for Akers after Hall tore his ACL, but they found a running back they liked more – and for only a Day 3 pick. Like Akers, Robinson came into the NFL in 2020. And like Akers, he also suffered a torn Achilles, which occurred at the end of the 2021 season.
But unlike Akers, Robinson has been a very efficient runner throughout his career. As a rookie, he rushed for 1,070 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging a healthy 4.5 yards per carry. Last season, he gained 767 yards on the ground and improved his per-carry average (4.7), scoring eight rushing touchdowns.
As a rookie in 2020, Akers averaged 4.3 yards per carry and looked like an explosive back, but he’s fallen off since injuring his Achilles. He averaged 2.6 yards per carry in the playoffs last season and is gaining just 3.0 yards per carry this season.
By most measures, including durability, Robinson has been a better player than Akers so far through two-plus seasons. And if he’s only fetching a sixth-rounder, the Rams will have trouble getting more than that for Akers.
Any team watching his tape in 2022 will come away unimpressed, too, seeing him miss holes and fail to break tackles. Akers still has value, being just 23 years old and only a little more than a year removed from an Achilles tear, but the Rams aren’t in a position where they have much negotiating power with other teams.
