Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 8 Target: Should Vikings' Cam Akers be Added? Can You Start Akers and Alexander Mattison?
A week ago, I wrote about how Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison should be a trade target because of all the snaps and touches he was getting every week. A week later, and I’m addressing the team’s backfield as a whole because Cam Akers outplayed Mattison in the team’s upset win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Let’s take a look at the week 7 numbers both backs produced, then their overall numbers this season before we address the situation moving forward and determining whether or not you should be adding Akers and potentially starting him and Mattison in the coming weeks.
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Week 7 Showings
Akers ended up with more touches though. He rushed 10 times for 31 yards and caught two of his three targets for 30 yards.
Mattison was the more-effective ball carrier, rushing eight times for 39 yards. He caught two of his three passes, but for only 3 yards.
Mattison still got more looks in the red zone, with two rushes and a target. Akers didn’t have a red zone carry, but was targeted once.
Fullback C.J. Ham played the next most snaps (11) of a backfield player. Running back Ty Chandler was on the field for three snaps, hauling in a 12-yard pass on his only touch.
Season Numbers
The uptick in touches for Akers kind of came out of nowhere. In his three previous games with Minnesota, Akers had seven touches twice and was coming off a two-touch contest in week 6.
Akers hadn’t even played over 30% of the team’s offensive snaps in his three games there. In week 6, he played just nine snaps, which is what prompted me to write about trading for Mattison.
Mattison had been the team’s workhorse through six games, even though his numbers weren’t anything special. He’d gotten at least 10 touches in each contest, and was coming off a 22-touch game in week 6.
Even with Mattison’s low receiving yardage in week 7, his yards per touch of 4.2 was better than in week 6, and right on pace with his season average.
Vikings Running Back Fantasy Outlook
Now the big question is whether Akers’ uptick in touches was simply because of how the game unfolded, or was the team’s plan to start incorporating him more?
Even though it wasn’t a high-level trade that the Vikings made to acquire Akers from the Los Angeles Rams earlier this season, they obviously saw something in him to make the move.
Akers is just a year younger, so it’s not like this is a situation where a young back takes over for an aging one.
Over their careers, Mattison is averaging 0.1 yards a carry more. Akers has the edge on Mattison in yards per reception over their career, with 0.3 yards more.
Mattison simply hasn’t been all that impressive this season, and with star wide receiver Justin Jefferson out with an injury, this simply might be a thing the Vikings are trying to jumpstart their offense. Akers did provide a bit of a spark in the team’s Monday night win, but Mattison was also pretty effective as a ball carrier, so he didn’t exactly do anything to lose his job.
If I had to take a guess as to how the backfield might play out in the coming weeks, I’d say that the Vikings will take things on a week-by-week basis. I like Mattison to keep playing a few more snaps, but the touches between the two to be pretty even. Akers offers a touch more as a pass catcher, so if he’s able to break off a long gain like he did Monday, he’ll have the chance to keep outscoring Mattison. I think Mattison can make up for that with goal-line work and a possible touchdown.
Minnesota is a pass-first team and will be even more prone to pass if Jefferson ever comes back. That caps what any running back on the team can do, but both Mattison and Akers should get a few chances a game to contribute some fantasy points if you want to start either one.
Should You Add Akers/Who Can You Start
I absolutely think you should try adding Akers if he’s available on your waiver wire. Any time you can add a running back in a backfield with question marks is a chance I like to take.
Like I said before, I think this is a week-to-week situation, so instead of looking too far ahead, let’s just look at the Vikings’ upcoming game. That’s a road test against the sputtering Green Bay Packers.
That’s a favorable matchup on paper for the Minnesota running back duo, as the Packers’ defense allows 27 fantasy points a contest to opposing running backs. They are allowing backs to go for nearly 112 rushing yards and 43 receiving yards.
Even if you split the workload between the two Vikings’ backs up, that leaves a solid fantasy output from each guy. Unless news comes out that Mattison is dealing with some kind of injury, or that the team is going to start featuring Akers more, I’d feel pretty safe in my guess that they will split the workload against the Packers in week 8. That makes them both start worthy in my book, and then you just need to choose between them and whatever other options you might have on your team.
