The Minnesota Vikings recently traded for Cam Akers from the Houston Texans. Initially that looked to be in response of the injury Aaron Jones’ suffered against the New York Jets. Days later, though, it appears the Vikings starting running back will go on Sunday vs the Detroit Lions. But what happens down the rest of the depth chart?
When Jones went down, Chandler worked the entire second half and it wasn’t a great showing, for the young backup. He carried the rock 14 times, managed just 30 yards on those carries. Yikes
Cam Akers trade likely means Ty Chandler’s snaps are dropping
Now, as the outlook for Aaron Jones’ health gets more and more optimistic, it seems clear that the Vikings weren’t as worried about who will replace Jones as RB1. Instead, it appears the recently acquired Cam Akers was brought in to battle for Minnesota’s RB2 role, after Chandler’s underwhelming start to the season.
Related: Final Minnesota Vikings Injury Report: Who’s In and Who’s Out vs Lions?
That’s what local insider Darren Wolfson is hearing too. He shared his behind-the-scenes chatter with the Mackey & Judd Show (SKOR North) late this week. Objects in Ty Chandler’s mirror are closer than they appear.
“My sense is, it’s more about Ty Chandler. This is why they had all sorts of interest in early July in re-signing Cam Akers. Plus, exploring some other potential moves. I don’t know if they’ve ever been all in on Ty Chandler. Was it the fumble in London? Now hey, I think he catches that toss 98 out of 100 times so I’m not necessarily concerned about that. When thinking about the total package, I get it. I absolutely see eventually here, maybe as soon as Sunday, Cam Akers trumping Ty Chandler. Cam Akers becoming that number two running back.”
Darren Wolfson on Cam Akers and Ty Chandler (Skor North)
Move to Akers at RB2 makes sense for Minnesota Vikings
Last season, the Vikings traded for Cam Akers, after Alexander Mattison struggled to provide legitimate RB1 value, like Kevin O’Connell had planned. Back then, it was Akers who got the first crack at taking the starting role from the now-Raider. Chandler didn’t get a real chance until Akers wasl lost to the season with a torn achilles.
Akers averaged just 3.6 yards per carry on 38 attempts, last year for Minnesota. But even if he is a marginal upgrade over chandler in the run game, no doubt Akers provides all of the intangibles and much better pass blocking than what Chandler does. Those things have stunted his NFL growth since his career started.
Given Jones is already over halfway to his career record for snap count, it makes sense for Kwesi and Kevin to add additional depth. Minnesota will need their full complement of talent to step up in order to pull out a victory vs their best division rival, on Sunday.
