Cam Akers is entering his fourth season with the Los Angeles Rams and it’s the most pivotal one yet as he will be angling for an extension.
Akers’ tenure with the Rams has been a rollercoaster ride full of injuries and internal conflict, but the two sides managed to move past everything and are finally on the same page going into the 2023 season.
During the offseason, Akers has been preparing for the starting running back role by changing his body. Part of his regimen was fixing his diet which he said has been working out so far for him, via Adam Grosbard of the Southern California News Group:
“You don’t recover the same when you have certain stuff,” Akers said. “Just making sure I focus on gaining the right kind of weight and it’s paying off for me.”
Akers’ new diet has enabled him to recover faster and discussed how his old eating habits made it harder to do that:
“It’s noticeable, day-to-day routines and everything else,” Akers said. “Sleep better, turn over better if I’ve got a long workload day and my legs hurt. If I’m going home and I’m eating fried foods and sugary stuff, I’m not going to be able to recover it just off the sleep that I get that night no matter what.”
As far as the on-field benefits, the running back said he feels like he’s more of a load to handle and can push for extra yardage:
“Definitely can feel myself being heavier on defenders,” Akers said. “Obviously we’re not tackling or doing anything like that, but as far as the thudding, I can feel myself being heavier, leaning on defenders more, falling forward. Which I was doing anyway, but I can tell it’s going to be amplified.”
A talented runner and receiver in the backfield, Akers has all the tools to break out and build upon the strong end-of-season stretch he had last year. As a clear focal point of the offense, Akers can set himself up well to get paid next offseason.
Cam Akers disagrees with how running backs were treated in free agency
Even if Akers has a strong season, a rich extension could be out of the cards considering how running backs were treated in free agency this past summer. Saquon Barkley and Tony Pollard had to settle for one-year deals, while Josh Jacobs continues to holdout.
When asked about the situation, Akers stood by his peers and disagreed with how things were handled.
