The fantasy football fallout from Cam Akers trade to the Minnesota Vikings: Is Alexander Mattison

September 15, 2024

Two games into the Alexander Mattison era in Minnesota, the Vikings traded for Cam Akers.

We already had the situation in Los Angeles figured out, with Kyren Williams having 29 rushing attempts and three touchdowns over the first two games — and 10 targets in Week 2. The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue pointed out that the Rams, this season, “changed their scheme to include more gap concepts (away from the mid-zone they were running with Akers).”

Minnesota, however, is interesting. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was Akers’ offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021. And while Akers hasn’t exactly set the world on fire in his career — he averages 4.0 yards per carry for his career and has just 10 touchdowns in 30 career games — fantasy players remember him fondly for his two big games at the end of last season in the semifinal and championship weeks — 118 yards and three touchdowns in Week 16 and 123 rushing yards in Week 17.

Mattison, meanwhile, is averaging just 3.3 YPC over the first two games this season after taking over the backfield from Dalvin Cook. He has, however, been targeted 10 times and caught a touchdown — and this could come back to haunt him, as Mattison has proven to be somewhat adept in the passing game, and could be nudged into a pass-catching role if O’Connell can unlock the talent in Akers.

The Athletic’s Alec Lewis says that Minnesota is “not likely to move on” from Mattison or Ty Chandler right now, “but the staff is seeking efficiency, and if Akers can help the team in that attempt, he will play.”

So where does this leave us as fantasy players?

Brandon Funston’s take and ROS rankings

A change of scenery was overdue for Akers, and landing with a former coach who knows what he brings to the table and actually had a desire to add that to his team’s mix is at least encouraging for his potential to get back on the track to relevance. He’s, first and foremost, a wake-up call for Mattison. I expect over the next few weeks we’ll see Mattison and Akers jockey for position. Whether that results in a clear starter/backup hierarchy, or if it ultimately becomes a platoon/hot-hand situation, remains to be seen. If you’ve held on to Akers to this point, you should at least see how things start to shake out now that he’s in Minnesota.

In terms of how I’d rank the two backs for the rest of the season, I have Mattison still in the lead with a RB ranking just outside the Top 30, just behind Raheem Mostert and Jerome Ford, both backs also likely to deal with competition in the coming weeks.

Akers lands just outside my RB Top 40, in a neighborhood with the likes of Dalvin Cook, Joshua Kelley, Antonio Gibson, to name a few.

Do I cut anyone?

Ty Chandler seems like the obvious choice to drop. Mattison should still have a significant role (for now — maybe this move will spark something inside of him) and Akers should be held until further notice. We wouldn’t start Akers this week, but with the running back injuries across the league, any RB with a somewhat significant role should be held.

(Photo: Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k3FvbHBoaXxzfJFsZmlxX2d9cMDHnmSfmZ6prrTFjJ%2BmqKySlrmtecWao6Wnpal6p77OpmScmZ1irqyx0axkraqRmbJuwM5mq6GdXaK2r7rErKatmV2rtqy1zaCqZqGjYq6tsdeapZ2domK6osDToqqopl2WeqW%2Bzqlm