Los Angeles Rams Plan To Part Ways With Former Florida State Running Back
The Los Angeles Rams came up short in their home opener against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Following the game, the focus turned to what happened off the field as much as what happened on it.
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Leading up to kickoff against the 49ers, the Rams made a surprising move when they listed fourth-year running back Cam Akers as inactive. Akers entered the season as the starter in the backfield but was swiftly demoted after rushing 22 times for 29 yards and a touchdown last week.
Now it's become apparent that he's played his last snap for Los Angeles. On Monday afternoon, head coach Sean McVay said that Akers wouldn't be returning to the team as the Rams work to find a suitor for his services.
“That won’t be an opportunity,” McVay said according to the Los Angeles Times. “I feel good about the opportunity to move him, but we won’t go back and forth on it.”
This isn't the first time that the franchise has tried to move on from Akers. He spent time away from the team in 2022 leading up to the trade deadline. Akers ultimately returned and finished the season with 188 rushes for a career-high 786 yards with seven rushing touchdowns.
Los Angeles selected Akers in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He came on strong late in his rookie season prior to tearing his Achilles while working out leading up to his second year with the Rams. Akers has been unable to consistently assert himself at the professional level as the franchise envisioned when he was drafted.
“This isn’t an indictment on any individual,” McVay said. “I really care a lot about Cam and I’m appreciative of some of the challenging things that we’ve gone through and where we ended up getting to in terms of our relationship and our ability to communicate clearly, which is why it’s kind of tough for me to hear that there is confusion."
“But I wish him nothing but the best. I think he’s got a lot of ability, and that’s really all I want to be able to add on to that but I’m grateful for the many contributions he made over the course of his career as a Ram.”
Akers was a member of Los Angeles' Super Bowl LVI team. If he's traded, he'll finish his time with the franchise with 360 rushes for 1,443 yards with 12 touchdowns on the ground and 27 catches for 250 yards and a score through the air.
The Mississippi native played his college career at Florida State after signing with the program as a five-star prospect and one of the top players in the 2017 class. He starred under former head coaches Jimbo Fisher and Willie Taggart, totaling 568 attempts for 2,875 yards with 27 touchdowns while scoring seven more times through the air during his time in garnet and gold.
Akers was named third-team All-ACC in 2017 and second-team All-ACC in 2019. He's ranked sixth in school history in rushing yards and seventh in rushing touchdowns.
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