With Cam Akers out for the season, what does the LA Rams depth chart look like and what Free Agent running backs are available?
With training camp looming, the Los Angeles Rams got some bad news Tuesday morning. Running back Cam Akers suffered a torn Achilles while training, and he will miss the entire 2021 season.
Akers had a breakthrough stretch late in his 2020 rookie season, which brought promise for a full-fledged breakout season this year. But that will have to wait, as he now enters recovery from a major injury.
The Rams were clearly ready to lean on Akers’ as their workhorse back this year. With Malcolm Brown’s departure in free agency, Darrell Henderson is the only other back currently on the roster with an NFL carry on his resume. So a survey of options to add someone, via a late signing, a trade or someone who’s in line to be let go by their current team, is now in order for the Rams’ front office.
LA Rams RB depth chart
Without Cam Akers, this is what Sean McVay and company will be rolling into training camp with as far as the depth chart is concerned:
RB1: Darrell Henderson
RB2: Xavier Jones
RB3: Raymond Calais
RB4: Jake Funk
Free Agent running backs: Should Rams sign Adrian Peterson?
The only thing missing from Adrian Peterson’s Hall of Fame resume is a Super Bowl ring. He is keenly aware of it, and recently he resurfaced saying he’s ready to go at 36 years old as he hopes to play a 15th NFL season.
Peterson spent last season with the Detroit Lions, rushing for 604 yards and seven touchdowns on 156 carries. He of course played with quarterback Matthew Stafford in Detroit last year, so the Rams will have a bit of inside knowledge if they want to kick the tires on Peterson.
Former Ram Todd Gurley is also still available. A reunion is not likely, but never say never. Frank Gore is another veteran back who is out there, and there are no signs he’s ready to retire. Out of he, Peterson and Gurley, Gore might be the most appealing to the Rams as the right combination of being willing to accept a role and having no history with them. Le’Veon Bell and Duke Johnson are two other notable names currently available on the running back market.
Free Agent running backs LA Rams depth chart could add
Some other backs, like Mark Ingram, Sony Michel, Royce Freeman and Jalen Richard, are lined up to become available in the coming weeks when their current teams trim rosters. But waiting that long to bring someone in would not be a great idea for the Rams, barring someone in that group (Ingram?) seeing an opportunity and asking for his release ASAP.
Henderson is lined up to replace Akers as the No. 1 guy on the depth chart, but the Rams desperately need to add experience to their running back room. But rather than sign a guy who is a shell of what he was and seems to be the last to know (Peterson, Bell, Gurley), narrowing the list to Gore, Johnson, etc. is easy and it’s what the Rams should do to fill the roster void left by Akers.