TRADE: Vikings Add More Depth to the RB Room Prior to Week 3
Josh Frey
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Through the first two weeks of the NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings have had the very worst rushing offense in the league.
They rank dead-last in both carries (26) and yards (69) while their average of 2.7 yards per carry ranks 30th ahead of only the Las Vegas Raiders and Houston Texans.
On Wednesday, the Vikings made a trade in order to try and fix this issue. The trade was to acquire RB Cam Akers from the Los Angeles Rams, who spent his first two NFL seasons with Kevin O’Connell as his offensive coordinator.
Vikings Acquire RB Cam Akers from the Los Angeles Rams
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported the trade via X (formerly Twitter), posting, “Trade! The #Rams are sending RB Cam Akers to the #Vikings, per sources.”
The trade as involves a “swap of 2026 draft picks” , as described by Adam Schefter of ESPN. It is unclear exactly what that pick swap looks like at this point in time.
During Akers’ first NFL season in 2020, he totaled 145 carries for 625 yards and a pair of TDs. However, a torn Achilles in 2021 caused him to miss all but one game of O’Connell’s final season as offensive coordinator. The RB would return in time for the playoffs, totaling 67 carries for 172 yards en route to the Rams’ Super Bowl victory.
Akers got off to a slow start in 2022, but came roaring back down the stretch of the season, totaling 63 carries for 345 rushing yards and 3 TDs in the final three games of the season. In total, he recorded 188 carries for 786 yards and 7 TDs last season.
However, trade rumors have been swirling around the RB for awhile now. He is once again off to a very slow start this season, putting up 22 carries for 29 yards and a touchdown over the first two weeks of the season.
Minnesota is clearly hoping he can get back to his late-season form from last year in order to help improve their running game. Perhaps being back with O’Connell will help him out.
Akers now joins an RB room in Minnesota that includes Alexander Mattison, Ty Chandler, and Myles Gaskin on the 53-man roster. The Vikings also employ seventh-round pick DeWayne McBride on the practice squad. Meanwhile, Kene Nwangwu remains on IR and cannot be activated until at least Week 5.
Clearly, whatever the Vikings have been doing in the running game hasn’t worked to this point, and they are intent on doing whatever it takes to fix it. On Monday, they also signed guard Dalton Risner in an attempt to improve the offensive line. Now, they have another RB in the mix as well heading into Week 3.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.