The Minnesota Vikings recently traded for Cam Akers from the Houston Texans. Initially that looked to be in response of the injury Aaron Jones’ suffered against the New York Jets. Days later, though, it appears the Vikings starting running back will go on Sunday vs the Detroit Lions. But what happens down the rest of the depth chart?
When Jones went down, Chandler worked the entire second half and it wasn’t a great showing, for the young backup. He carried the rock 14 times, managed just 30 yards on those carries. Yikes.
Cam Akers trade likely means Ty Chandler’s snaps are dropping
Now, as the outlook for Aaron Jones’ health gets more and more optimistic, it seems clear that the Vikings weren’t as worried about who will replace Jones as RB1. Instead, it appears the recently acquired Cam Akers was brought in to battle for Minnesota’s RB2 role, after Chandler’s underwhelming start to the season.
That’s what local insider Darren Wolfson is hearing too. He shared his behind-the-scenes chatter with the Mackey & Judd Show (SKOR North) late this week. Objects in Ty Chandler’s mirror are closer than they appear.
“My sense is, it’s more about Ty Chandler. This is why they had all sorts of interest in early July in re-signing Cam Akers. Plus, exploring some other potential moves. I don’t know if they’ve ever been all in on Ty Chandler. Was it the fumble in London? Now hey, I think he catches that toss 98 out of 100 times so I’m not necessarily concerned about that. When thinking about the total package, I get it. I absolutely see eventually here, maybe as soon as Sunday, Cam Akers trumping Ty Chandler. Cam Akers becoming that number two running back.”
