Alright, let’s talk about something I wrestled with a bit earlier this season on the fantasy front: the whole Cam Akers or Joshua Kelley situation. It popped up on my radar, mainly during waiver wire runs and trying to figure out who had the better shot at contributing.
My Initial Thoughts
So, first off, Cam Akers. I remember watching him with the Rams, had some flashes, right? Then the whole Achilles thing happened before, he came back, then gets traded to the Vikings. My first reaction was kinda “Hmm, okay.” Minnesota already had Mattison, so I wasn’t sure how much work Akers would actually get. Seemed like a change of scenery guy, maybe some upside, but definitely a gamble.
Then you had Joshua Kelley over with the Chargers. Austin Ekeler goes down early in the season, and suddenly Kelley is the next man up. This felt different. More straightforward, you know? Clear opportunity. He was going to get the ball. The big question for me was, what would he do with it? He hadn’t exactly blown the doors off when he got chances before.
Digging In a Little
I didn’t do anything too crazy, just my usual routine. I started looking at the situation more closely week to week.
- Checking Usage: I paid attention to snap counts and touches. Was Akers getting integrated into the Vikings offense at all? Was Kelley handling the bulk of the Chargers’ backfield work, or was it becoming a messy committee?
- Watching the Games (Eye Test): When I could catch the games, I tried to see how they looked. Did Kelley run hard? Did he look explosive? Was Akers showing any of that burst he had before? Sometimes the stats don’t tell the whole story.
- Considering the Offenses: The Chargers offense, when clicking, can be pretty good. Points should be there. The Vikings… well, they were figuring things out, especially after losing Kirk Cousins later on. That impacts a running back too.
Making the Call (Back Then)
When Ekeler was out, the immediate need and guaranteed volume made Kelley the priority for me. If you needed someone to plug in right now, he was the logical choice. It wasn’t always pretty, but the workload was undeniable. I remember putting in a waiver claim for Kelley in one league where I was weak at RB.
Akers felt more like a stash-and-see player. Could he earn a role? Maybe. But it wasn’t guaranteed, and the injury history was always in the back of my mind. It felt like betting on talent winning out over a murky situation.
Looking Back
Well, things played out kinda how you might expect, but also tragically for Akers. Kelley had some useful weeks purely because of volume, though he wasn’t super efficient. Then Ekeler came back, and Kelley’s role shrunk again, making him touchdown-dependent.
And Akers… man, tough break. Just when he was starting to maybe get a little more involved, he suffers another Achilles injury. Just brutal. So, in hindsight, Kelley provided some short-term value if you grabbed him at the right time. Akers ended up being a sad “what if.”
It’s just how fantasy goes sometimes. You weigh the options, look at the opportunity, make your best guess, and hope it works out. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. On to the next decision!
