Is Cam Akers Enough For Aaron Jones Insurance?
Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Credit to the Minnesota Vikings: The second they saw trouble brewing, they reacted. Aaron Jones has been a stealth MVP for the Vikes, even on a team with shiny new additions like Sam Darnold, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Stephon Gilmore. Minnesota had struggled with the run game in 2023, and Jones has been a revelation for it, offering a threat both on the ground (35o yards on 71 carries) and in the air (17 catches for 167 yards).
The knock on Jones is an injury history. While he returned to practice on Thursday, there’s a possibility he could miss Sunday’s game, making this the fourth time in the last five years that Jones couldn’t play a full schedule. When left to rely on Ty Chandler for the last three quarters against the New York Jets, the Vikings offense struggled to move the ball. Chandler was limited to 39 yards on 16 touches.
So Kwesi Adofo-Mensah moved to address the issue. Swapping a conditional late-round pick to the Houston Texans landed them Cam Akers, who is familiar to Vikings fans as a returning member of the 2023 team. Kwesi and Kevin O’Connell traded for him from the Los Angeles Rams, where KOC coached him as an offensive coordinator, and Akers was solid enough, particularly as a checkdown passing option.
Until he got hurt, taking him out of the lineup from Week 10 until the end of the season.
But now, the somewhat injury-prone Akers is the insurance policy for the somewhat injury-prone Jones. Is that going to work?
The good news is, it had been working decently in Houston, who had to use him in Weeks 3 through 5, when starter Joe Mixon went down with an injury. Over those three weeks, Akers took 31 carries for 113 yards. Take out his nine carries against the fearsome Vikings’ defense, and he had 95 yards on 22 carries against the Jacksonville Jaguars (not a good team) and Buffalo Bills (a very good team).
And Akers has stepped up and carried teams for stretches before. His rookie season in 2020 saw him rack up 390 yards on 74 carries from Weeks 13 through 16. Then in 2022, he drew seven straight starts to end the Rams’ season, earning 4.9 yards per carry, six touchdowns, and 648 all-purpose yards. Maybe that doesn’t make him a lead back, but if he stays healthy, he’s a more viable stopgap for Jones than Chandler.
A look at each of their blocking reveals this. At first glance, Akers’ 3.7 yards per carry doesn’t appear much different than Chandler’s 3.5 figure. But a deeper investigation shows that Akers gets 2.0 yards per run before he experiences contact, whereas Chandler’s average yards before contact is 2.6. If Minnesota’s blockers can get Akers that kind of room, he could get another half-yard or so on that average, boosting it to a respectable 4.2 average, or thereabouts.
If that’s the case, then he could be part of Minnesota’s plans, even if Jones is healthy this week. “I love Cam Akers…. Incredibly tough player, both mentally and physically,” gushed KOC after the trade. If Akers can be a back that properly spells Jones, who had 20-plus touches in both Weeks 3 and 4, they might even be able to avoid wear-and-tear on their lead back down the stretch. Of course, that can only happen if Kwesi’s hot streak of acquisitions continues, and Akers is able to stay healthy and productive himself.
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