LA Rams Draft video confirms Cam Akers is the workhorse running back

LA Rams behind-the-scenes video shows the complexity of the 2020 NFL Draft and confirms that team views RB Akers as the workhorse

The LA Rams chose RB Cam Akers at pick 52 for good reason.  Even before the team released running back Todd Gurley, sportswriters and fans knew that the team had to make changes.  After all, the team had invested top dollar into a running back who suddenly failed to be a top runner.   With a 2020 NFL Draft loaded with running backs, the team suddenly found itself in the “now or never” situation.

And so, the arduous selection process for the LA Rams began as the team parted ways from one of the NFL’s most incredible rushers in recent years. That selection process was not simply to get the most productive college running back, but the most productive fit for the LA Rams style of offense.

So the opportunity to witness slices of the behind-the-scenes process for the Rams selection of a running back is solid entertainment. To set up the Rams draft, we know that the running back class of 2020 had value at virtually every round.  As the team set up their draft board, many of us questioned the rationale of who the Rams favored in this draft, and why. So the video of the Rams 2020 NFL Draft allows fans to peek behind the curtain and understand why the Rams valued who they did.

The video is both entertaining and informative, revealing what many of us suspected as the Rams had the opportunity to make their first selection of the 2020 NFL Draft.  Cam Akers will be the Rams’ workhorse running back in 2020.

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That’s a huge distinction to make early. Some had questioned how Akers would fit into the Rams’ backfield with veterans Malcolm Brown, Darrell Henderson, and John Kelly returning. Some fans had already commented that the backfield was good “as is”, and that the Rams should turn their attention elsewhere in the draft.

But 2019 rookie Darrell Henderson was never intended as the feature running back. Instead, he was added to share – not assume – the workload of Gurley. Malcolm Brown is the team’s power runner – a short-yardage goal-line type who has not had much more than a light usage by the team. And John Kelly is such an unknown, getting just 30 touches for 83 yards in the past two seasons that he is not likely to be counted on for such an important promotion.

In the end, the Rams jumped at the chance to land the team’s top-rated running back at pick 52 in the second round. Cam Akers was more than a faceless commodity, he was the one rusher who checked all of the team’s boxes for that position.

The featured running back for the Rams will likely account for a third of the team’s total scoring, and a fifth of the team’s total yards. That warrants the team selection of the right player when he is available. To many, choosing a running back at pick 52 was a head-scratcher. But to the Rams, the team that projects Akers as the feature running back in their offense, he was a bargain at 52. Now it’s simply a matter of time until Cam Akers proves to everyone that he was the right pick.