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Fairly unexpectedly, the Los Angeles Rams made an addition to their running back room this week. They signed a familiar name, bringing back veteran RB Sony Michel.
The Rams had four running backs on the roster already, led by Cam Akers and Kyren Williams, which is why the decision to sign Michel came as a surprise. Michel brings plenty of experience to the position, having played five years in the NFL and started 35 games in his career, but he’s not exactly an explosive back or change-of-pace guy.
Instead, he’s a physical, between-the-tackles runner who can pick up the tough yards on third down and near the goal line – as he did several times near the end of his first Rams tenure.
Where exactly he slots into the depth chart is unclear. Michel is coming off a season in which he played 10 games for the Chargers and had just 106 yards on 36 carries. That’s an average of 2.9 yards per carry, the lowest of his career and well below his average of 4.2 across his five seasons.
He’s certainly not going to unseat Akers as the starter, and it’s hard to imagine him even beating out Williams as the No. 2 option. What’s most likely to happen is he’ll compete with Ronnie Rivers for the fourth spot behind Akers, Williams and rookie Zach Evans.
The Rams liked Evans enough to trade up 37 spots to select him, so it’s really hard to imagine him being cut, even though he’s only a sixth-round rookie. Williams was a standout in OTAs and minicamp and Akers still appears to be the starter.
Perhaps the Rams were simply looking for another camp body and someone with enough experience to help the younger backs on the roster. And he probably brings more to the table as the fourth running back than Rivers, given his physical running style and nose for the end zone.
It’s very possible that Michel won’t even make the 53-man roster. We don’t know the details of his contract with Los Angeles, but unless there’s a lot of guaranteed money on it, he’s absolutely a cut candidate.
The Rams absolutely don’t need five running backs on the roster, so that should be out of the question, which likely leaves Michel and Rivers competing for the final spot on the depth chart.
From a fantasy perspective, this move shouldn’t have much of an impact on Akers at all. It could potentially hurt his goal line work if the Rams are concerned about Akers’ ball security, but Michel isn’t going to overtake Akers as the starter.
This is just a way to add some experience and depth to a position that only had four players heading into training camp.
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