Seeing a hole at running back due to the injuries suffered by Cam Akers and Raymond Calais, the Rams made a pretty significant move to acquire Sony Michel from the Patriots for two conditional draft picks. It’s not a huge price to pay, with a fourth-round compensatory pick being the highest possible cost, but for a player with one year left on his contract, the Rams are betting that Michel will help them in a meaningful way this season.
He’ll share the backfield with Darrell Henderson Jr., giving the Rams a solid one-two punch like they had in 2020 with Akers and Henderson. Michel offers a different style at the position than what the Rams have, too, being that downhill runner who doesn’t waste any energy dancing behind the line.
General manager Les Snead discussed the trade after it was made Wednesday, pointing out Michel’s north-south running style and how that complements Henderson and the rest of the Rams’ backs.
“That’s going to be a complementary backfield,” Snead said on a conference call. “What he does bring is this element of make a cut, get north and south and get north and south with some force,” Snead said. “The physics that he brings to the table – let’s call it a flavor of genre that we felt like complemented our group.”
The free-agent market wasn’t exactly rich with options at running back for the Rams, which is probably why they opted not to sign someone right away after Akers went down. They also took their time evaluating Jake Funk and Xavier Jones, but once Calais suffered a fractured foot, it was time to put the plan of acquiring Michel in motion.
The Rams had their eye on him from the beginning, knowing the depth the Patriots had at running back and the possibility that he could be dealt. Snead said there were other options, but they targeted Michel early on after Akers’ injury.
“At this point in time, there are always, let’s call it, other options,” Snead said. “But early in the down, we identified Sony for many reasons. Number one, being his experience – and experience, meaning like a player who has carried the ball in big games and in those big games, where there have been big moments, big drives, big series – is the experience of where he played, how he was coached. So, he was one of those players. If we were going to go the route of experience, he was someone who would definitely eying him from the start.”
It remains to be seen how the touches will be broken up between Henderson and Michel, but the Rams are just thankful to have two quality options in the backfield after suffering a significant blow with Akers missing the season.
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