Should You Trust Cam Akers In Fantasy Football Leagues In 2023?
Los Angeles Rams running back Cam Akers was viewed going into the 2022 season as a fantasy sleeper, sitting at RB18 in most draft sites. After a tumultuous first half of the year, he finally regained the confidence and trust of the coaching staff and rewarded them with a stellar last month of the season. Now, entering the 2023 season, he is once gained as a mid-round steal, but can you trust he can perform? Let’s talk about it.
First, the positives. As I mentioned, Cam Akers had a fantastic end to the Los Angeles Rams 2022 season. Akers finished as RB35 in PPR leagues, spearheaded by two top-12 finishes in the last three weeks of the season. He would go over 100 yards in each of the last three games with three touchdowns.
The Los Angeles Rams’ season was long over, so why not force-feed the ball to Akers and see if he can find some of that magic and potential he has? There is a lot to like from Akers entering fantasy football drafts in 2023.
However, you can’t ignore the facts. The fact is that this Rams team is not good. Really not good. They should be in the running for the No. 1 pick–that level of not good. Trey always mentions that you can’t trust running backs on bad teams (he mentioned it a lot in his Don’t Eat The Cheese series for backs he just released). You can say that he still has value due to Los Angeles always being behind and he can get receiving points. Well, with Cam Akers, you can’t. He finished last year with a mere 13 receptions for 117 yards and no touchdowns. That deeply hurts his value.
I traded away Cam Akers in my dynasty fantasy football league already. I picked him up for a third-round pick and flipped Akers for D’Andre Swift, who even while being in a typical running back by committee offense, I like more than Akers this year.
If we are talking about your usual re-draft leagues, I don’t hate the pick. Personally, I would rather have someone like Rachaad White, who will win you your fantasy football league this year. Akers could surprise you a week or two, but should not be viewed as a must-have in 2023.
