5 reasons why LA Rams rookie RB Akers is ideal featured back

Reason 5 –  Carry the load

Neither Malcolm Brown nor Darrell Henderson can carry the Rams offense as the featured running back. Brown has the necessary strength and durability, but lacks the necessary speed and burst to be dangerous.  Henderson has the necessary speed and burst but lacks the necessary strength and durability. So the Rams have a bit of each to use at the right moments of the game to emphasize running between the tackles for short yardage gains or to threaten the perimeter by bouncing it outside for a big gain.  But not one player who did both.

Until now.

Cam Akers is a  5-foot-10 217-pound running back who combines the rare strength to slam the ball in any creases between the offensive tackles but has plenty of raw speed to take the ball to the sidelines for huge chunks of yards.

His 40-yard dash time was 4.47-seconds, good enough for fifth-best for running backs in the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. His bench press of 20 was good enough for ninth-best. But he also had excellent performances in the broad jump and the 20-yard shuttle.

His college career was handicapped by playing behind a dismal offensive line, which forced him to find even the slightest openings and punch the ball through into daylight. Out of necessity, he sometimes had to cut-back in the opposite direction to find room to run. And he sometimes elected to bounce the ball to the outside. All the while, his short stature and low center of gravity make him a difficult ball carrier to bring down single-handedly.