Quote
Speed_Kills
22 - McVay starts season with 3rd down back Hendo over his most talented runner. McVay then tries to trade Akers fails and then cuts Hendo smh… Akers finished the season as one of the leagues top backs to finish the year on depleted offense
This was written on Sept 23 last year, after the Rams' first two games (from this article [
www.turfshowtimes.com] )
Watching the film, it’s pretty clear that Akers isn’t the same back that he was prior to the achilles injury at the end of 2020. The sooner that the Rams come to realize that fact, the better. He lacks confidence in his vision, explosiveness, contact balance, and decisiveness. A lot of times this season, he looks unsure. He looks too often to try to bounce the play outside.
McVay’s offense, especially in the run game, is centered around zone concepts. In a zone running scheme a good zone running back will take advantage of a crease opening by cutting back against the grain to find the open area.
That’s exactly the case in this play in the second half. Pause the video a little past the one second mark. You’ll notice that there is a huge cutback lane that has been walled off by AJ Jackson. Instead of cutting back, Akers gets caught going sideways. He doesn’t see the cutback lane that would have given him positive yardage.
Akers currently ranks 34th out of 35 running backs in rush yards over expected according to MFB analytics. His -.29 EPA per rush are also tied for the second-worst mark in the league. Missing these creases and hesitating at the beginning of his runs are a big reason for that.That right there is enough for me to want Hendo in there instead of Akers at the season's start. No doubt those issues were obvious in camp.
This next part is from memory: I think Akers had a face-to-face with McVay and asked him to run more gap blocking and less OZ cuz he was more comfortable running behind that blocking scheme. I guess knowing where the hole is supposed to be and hitting that hole is a better fit for Akers' skills. McVay balked at that suggestion and attempted to appease Akers by trading him, my assumption - to a team that featured gap blocking.
The benching as I saw it was nothing more than the Rams trying to keep Akers from getting hurt while he was on the trade block. But when a trade didn't materialize McVay shifted gears and worked Akers back into the mix. Releasing Hendo at that point still seems odd, but remember, he only had 283 yards rushing thru the first 10 games so maybe it wasn't a big deal.
Akers had some noticeable success running the ball after that. Further removed from that Achilles injury? Better understanding of how to run behind an OZ scheme? Something else? Whatever it was, Akers sure looked good as the Rams wrapped up their season.
Fast forward to this year and looks who's favorite team is incorporating some gap blocking schemes under the tutelage of an OC and an OL coach who know how to coach it, and with linemen who weigh over 320 lbs (except at center). If ever things were set up for Akers to succeed, this is it.
AlbaNY_Ram
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2023 10:23AM by AlbaNY_Ram.
