2020 Rookie Class: An Early Look at Cam Akers, RB Florida State

Bruce Matson

The 2020 draft class is going to shake up the NFL landscape and how we view and value dynasty assets going forward. We have a draft class that is deep at both running back and wide receiver. Evaluations for these players are going to be all over the place. We are going to see a lot of volatility in rankings and rookie drafts. We can capitalize on that by using the off-season to do our homework.

Cam Akers is one of the stud running back prospects in this year’s class. A lot of people are excited about him. There are also some folks who are concerned about how he will transition to the next level. Either way, he’s a supreme talent and should be solidly on your radar.

AS A RECRUIT

Cam Akers was a five-star prospect from Clinton, Mississippi playing quarterback for Clinton High School. There he passed for 3,128 yards and 31 touchdowns while also rushing for 2,105 yards and 34 touchdowns during his senior season. He earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors for the state of Mississippi in 2016 and was named Mr. Football for Class 6A in the same year. That year he led his high school team to its first-ever state title.

Multiple schools knocked on his door wanting him to sign a letter of intent to play for their program. Before signing with Florida State, he saw offers from 22 different schools. Some of the schools that were interested in his services were Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame.

COLLEGIATE CAREER

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Stats courtesy of sports-reference.com.

Akers hit the ground running during his freshman year. He hung 100-yards rushing or more on Miami, Duke, Syracuse, and Louisiana Monroe. He broke FSU’s freshman rushing record (previously held by Dalvin Cook) finishing the year ranked sixth in the ACC with 1,025 rushing yards.

We saw his production decrease during his sophomore season when he rushed for only 706 yards and six touchdowns. The offensive line at Florida State was atrocious and the offense as a whole struggled due to less than optimal quarterback play. 2018 could be called a lost year for Akers, since he only surpassed the 100-yard mark one time during the entire season.

Akers returned to his old form in his junior season. He carried the rock 231 times for 1,144 yards and 14 touchdowns, rushing for over 100-yards six times. His best game came against Syracuse when he ran for 144 yards and four touchdowns.

He finished his career ranked sixth in school history with 2,875 yards rushing and seventh in school history with 27 rushing touchdowns. He will be remembered for some of his dazzling highlight-reel plays and his overall athleticism.

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Akers broke out as an 18-year-old freshman, owning a 24.94 percent market share of the team’s offensive production. According to Pro Football Focus, he was second in the ACC with 40 missed tackles forced on carries behind only AJ Dillon with 64 missed tackles. He crossed the goal line eight times, accounting for 20.51 percent of the team’s offensive touchdowns.

His ownership of offensive production dropped by 5.44 percent his sophomore season. Akers only scored eight total touchdowns that year. His efficiency dropped, churning out just 4.4 yards per carry while forcing just 27 missed tackles on 161 carries. He produced 575 yards after contact, which was 65.57 percent of his offensive output. He also fumbled the ball five times that year.

His market share of the team’s offensive production increased to a career-high 27.48 percent his junior season. He owned a 37.5 percent share of the team’s offensive touchdowns. Akers also saw 36 targets on the season, equating to a ten percent target share.

ATHLETIC PROFILE

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Akers proved to be one of the most athletic running backs in the country when he competed in Nike’s The Opening in the summer of 2016. He ran a 4.41 40-yard dash. From watching the tape, he shouldn’t be far off from that time today considering he’s about as good as gone once he hits the open field.

His 41-inch vertical jump suggests that he’s a very explosive athlete – his most noticeable athletic trait when he’s on the field. He can quickly switch gears and get to full speed, making it easier for him to get through the hole to reach the second level of the defense. He is also very shifty and moves laterally very well. He should be a top performer in the three-cone when it comes time for the NFL Scouting Combine.

STRENGTHS

  • Has a lot of bounce to his step
  • Very slippery with an impressive jump cut
  • Excellent contact balance
  • Smashes defenders at the point of contact
  • He loves being physical
  • Runs with a chip on his shoulders
  • Tough to tackle in the open field

WEAKNESSES

  • Lacks awareness in pass protection
  • Not elusive in space
  • Vision is inconsistent

DRAFT PROJECTION

Draft capital is a key driver to a player’s dynasty value. Akers is a running back we need to pay close attention to on draft day because he has the potential to go early in the second round. He also has the potential to fall to the fourth round. I think the fourth round is the worst-case scenario and I don’t see him slipping past that point. He will more than likely get drafted somewhere in the second or third round and will have more than enough draft capital to warrant a first-round pick in rookie drafts.

As we all know, this year’s draft is overloaded with running back talent. Since it’s a deep class, there will be some teams willing to wait until the later rounds before they decide to draft their running back in order for them to maximize value and get the talent they need at other positions. This could cause a talented running back to fall a few spots to even a round if enough teams are waiting to pull the trigger. The deeper a class is at a certain position, the crazier things can get.

DYNASTY VALUE

Akers is going to be a first-round pick in rookie drafts. Something devastating would have to happen for him to slide out of the first round. I see him being selected in the 1.06 to 1.12 range of the first-round. He does have the potential to leapfrog some of the more heralded prospects in this class if he has a good combine and gets selected earlier than expected in the draft.

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Using last year’s rookie class as a barometer, Akers should get drafted in a similar position compared to where David Montgomery and Miles Sanders were going in drafts last year, anywhere between the fourth and eighth rounds of startup drafts. He should hold his value throughout his rookie year, making him a safe investment.

bruce matson