Getty Jimmy Garoppolo hands it off to Jeff Wilson on October 16, 2022.
Never thought this would be written this late into the season: The San Francisco 49ers need backfield help.
Injuries have ravaged a once deep backfield for a team that prides itself and emphasizes a ground-and-pound approach — with the Niners being without Elijah Mitchell and Ty Davis-Price plus needing to turn to free agency (Tevin Coleman) for depth reasons. And Sunday, October 16 in Atlanta became further proof that a new match is needed to reignite this once flaming fire known as the 49ers’ ground attack — with the unit being bottled to just 50 yards in the 28-14 loss. Jeff Wilson ended up getting half of those yards as the leading rusher.
Yes, past Bay Area sensation Christian McCaffrey has been linked as a possibility by multiple insiders, which would bring back the past Heisman candidate from nearby Stanford. However, one other name attached to the trade block could give the 49ers a chance to really one-up their rivals from Southern California as mentioned by one analyst.
Wild Proposal Adds Rival to 49ers’ Backfield Outside of Trade
Cam Akers of the Los Angeles Rams has had his name plastered as a trade possibility in the past week. He’s gone from RB1 for the Super Bowl champs and their $6,173,035 back to likely playing his final game in the “Rams House.”
And the 49ers were named as one of 10 potential landing spots by CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin on Monday, October 17.
But Benjamin isn’t predicting a trade, given the fact the 49ers and Rams have steered clear from making deals with one another over the years. Instead, he’s thrown the 49ers into the mix to land Akers if he’s released.
“Kyle Shanahan doesn’t necessarily need big names to power his busy ground game, but fresh off a dud from fill-in starter Jeff Wilson Jr., they could stand to add talent with Elijah Mitchell sidelined indefinitely. Akers is a plug-and-play starter who could fill just about any role Shanahan requires, and likely retain the job into 2023,” Benjamin wrote.
Now, Akers severing ties with the Super Bowl champs has gained traction.
Akers/Rams Split Imminent
Speculation first fueled when Akers was noticeably absent from practices leading up to the Rams’ Week 6 contest versus the Carolina Panthers.
Head coach Sean McVay at the time declined to give out specifics as the reason behind his absence. Akers was not in the backfield in the 24-10 win over the Panthers as Darrell Henderson, Malcolm Brown and Bay Area native Ronnie Rivers of Brentwood handled the rushing load.
Akers has seen mixed results with the Rams. He did lose his entire 2021 season with a torn Achilles before being cleared for the playoffs. He’s produced just two 100-yard outings per Pro Football Reference.
The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport then released his report that the Rams were shopping Akers before the Sunday contest. McVay cleared the air on Monday via Zoom that the Rams are exploring a fresher start for Akers.
“There is a possibility that we could try to help him look for a fresh new start with another team,” McVay told reporters (h/t Rams team reporter Stu Jackson). “That’s something that we’ve explored. If that doesn’t come to fruition, then we’ll figure out a solution (on) how to best move forward with him.”
The latter part of McVay’s statement is most telling. As it was, one year ago the Rams tried to find a trade partner for DeSean Jackson after he wasn’t fitting into the offense. Jackson was eventually released, then claimed off waivers by the Las Vegas Raiders. So a release could be in the cards for Akers if he doesn’t attract trade interest.