Could RB Cam Akers become the Shohei Ohtani of the LA Rams?

Just in case you’ve been asleep like Rip Van Winkle, there’s this baseball player in Los Angeles (not the Dodgers, the other guys) named Shohei Ohtani who plays for the Angels who’s just flat out killing it – with his stick, and from the mound.

He’s leading the league in home runs with 34, is second in RBIs with 74, and  has a 4-1 pitching record as a starting hurler this season  (and we are only a few days past MLB’s All-Star break!)  A guy with a fast bat and a fastball.

The House that Ohtani Built’s second coming?

The comparison is particularly apt because baseball has not seen a player, any player, put up these kinds of numbers since the legendary Babe Ruth.

Shohei Ohtani is nothing else if not versatile, with a capital “V”. Make that verrry versatile, with a “V”-squared.

And the NFL digs versatility right now. It’s quite the catch-phrase. Very much in vogue. Raises a college kid’s NFL draft prospects mega-bonus points.

Versatile players get dressed on NFL game day.

It’s a big reason why the Rams drafted Jacob Harris with their 141st pick in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft this year. He plays wide receiver, slot receiver, tight end, and perhaps most importantly, (on a team with so many wide receivers already in the fold), he plays special teams. Something of a savant at ST, actually, or so we are told.

Versatility.

And as Rams training camp is soon to begin, a player’s ability to play more than one position offers a team more than one dimension, can spell the difference between making the team or hearing from The Turk –  the poor individual assigned by the team who’s responsible for tracking down players and explaining to them that they are being released.

Versatility fends off the Turk, or, at least keeps him at bay for another day, and just maybe, for another season.