Super Bowl LVI Favorites: Cam Akers

With Super Bowl LVI behind us, it’s time to take a step back and review the best plays and players that took to the field. Today we’re reviewing Cam Akers, running back for the Los Angeles Rams, by checking out his 2021 season and then how he fared in the big game itself.

Now that the Super Bowl is over, the next big event is the NFL draft. If you want to get in on that action, you should check out some NFL draft odds. There’s a whole new generation of football talent on the way.

Cam Akers’ 2021

Akers had a dramatic start to his 2021 season. At training camp, he tore his Achilles tendon while working out. With such a serious injury, he was expected to be out for the entirety of the season.

Despite expectations, Akers was activated on the Los Angeles Rams’ roster about five months later, on Christmas Day. Shortly after, at Week 18, Akers took to the field again to face the San Francisco 49ers. During his returning game, he rushed 3 yards with 5 carries and caught 3 passes for 10 yards.

He then made 17 rushing attempts for 55 yards against the Arizona Cardinals, then registered 48 rushing yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the NFC Divisional Playoffs. Across 13 carries, he made another 48 rushing yards against the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC Championship.

Becoming league leaders, the Rams traveled to Super Bowl LVI, where they were up against the Cincinnati Bengals led by Joe Burrow. Funnily enough, Burrow himself had his own comeback story after a serious injury, which he may have made worse after getting injured during the Super Bowl itself.

Cam Akers finished the postseason with 67 rushing attempts for 172 yards. That’s an average yard per rush attempt of 2.6 with 8 receptions. As for receiving yards, he caught 76 yards and averaged 9.5 yards per reception with 2 fumbles and 2 fumbles lost.

Akers At The Super Bowl

After making his recovery and helping the Rams get to the Super Bowl, it was time for them to face off against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals were hungry, having never made it to a Super Bowl in over 30 years.

Even with the Bengals thundering through the league throughout 2021, the Rams were the favorites to win the showdown. Many also discounted Akers before the game, given the injury he had suffered about six months earlier.

They weren’t entirely wrong. If you didn’t know Akers’ personal story from July 2021 to the Bowl, he wouldn’t have turned your head. In the first half, he made 10 rushing yards on 7 carries and 1 reception for 7 yards. By the end of the game, he had made 21 yards on 13 carries and 3 receptions for 14 yards in total.

Every player counts and so, alongside stars like Matthew Stafford, Akers worked with his team and held the Bengals at bay. It was a close game at 23-20, which is just what we like to see at the Super Bowl.

The 2021 postseason should ignite a fire in Akers as he looks to improve his stat game and prove that he deserved coming back to the Rams after that tendon injury. Now he has a Super Bowl victory to his name too but, if we had to guess, he wishes he could’ve worked harder for it and turned heads while doing so.

Conclusion

That’s the story of Cam Akers so far. The adversity that he faced over the last year seems to be in his rearview mirror, so his performance should improve from here.

Getting a Super Bowl title in your second year in the NFL is no small feat. Akers has a lot to owe to the Rams and, hopefully, he will develop into a fierce running back with a point to prove.