Will LA Rams rookie RB Cam Akers recharge the offense?

What Akers won’t fix

Rookie running back Cam Akers was slotted for a lion’s share of carries against the Philadelphia Eagles, until suffering an untimely rib injury after just three carries. And based on the style of their defense, he likely would have been the Rams featured running back against the New York Giants as well.

But his absence forced the Rams to push both Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson into more carries than originally planned. That places a bit more burden onto both of the Rams remaining runners.  And that additional workload increases fatigue, which itself is a significant contributor to soft tissue injury.

Unpleasant surprise

A concerning surprised that developed in week four was an impressive way the New York Giants defense played at the line of scrimmage.  The Giants were awfully stingy in terms of rushing yards,  While they are flirting with a top-10 rush defense, they truly stepped up their game when defending the Rams, yielding about half of what they typically do in a game. Akers’s presence will not help the Rams offensive line play better.

Compounding that inability to run with the ball, the Rams head coach Sean McVay has not beaten his former team at Washington yet. They last played in 2017, and Washington won that game 27-20. The Rams have a chance to beat Washington and complete a sweep of the NFC East division this week.