How does Cam Akers affect Alexander Mattison in fantasy football?

The Minnesota Vikings are acquiring running back Cam Akers in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams. Akers fell out of favor with the Rams for the second year in a row, although his play in the one game he was active didn’t necessarily warrant it. Now, he will look for a fresh start with Minnesota, who has struggled to get Alexander Mattison going on the ground. How does this move affect fantasy football managers that roster Mattison?

Mattison was expected to fill-in for Dalvin Cook who was released in the offseason. He had played well behind Cook when he was the interim starter during the times that Cook was dealing with an injury. Unfortunately, the experiment hasn’t panned out. Through two games, Mattison has only 62 yards on 19 carries and an additional 21 yards on six receptions with a touchdown through the air.

Akers was inactive in week 2 as the Rams sought a trade partner. In Week 1, he struggled to get anything against the Seattle Seahawks, carrying the ball 22 times for only 29 yards. He did manage to punch the ball into the endzone for a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

For the remainder of the fantasy football season, another viable running back doesn’t look good for Mattison. Sure, the trade was just an exchange of late-round draft picks three years from now, but Minnesota still brought Akers in for a reason. Head coach Kevin O’Connell was the offensive coordinator for Los Angeles in 2020 when the team selected Akers, so he is familiar with him. This move likely spells a running back committee in Minnesota, which should lower the value for Mattison and Ty Chandler, the latter of which figures to see even less consistent work now. Akers’ value is slightly increased, but only because he virtually had none once the Rams started making him a healthy scratch in Week 2.