The Los Angeles Rams have spent a pretty penny on contract extensions for the organization’s cornerstone players this offseason.
Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald all got extended by the team after playing major roles in winning the Super Bowl. These are the core players of the franchise, so it is wise that Les Snead re-signed each of these players.
However, there is one more player who should receive an extension offer as we prepare for training camp. That player is Darrell Henderson.
Henderson is a free agent after the 2022 season concludes. While he is technically the backup to Cam Akers, there is plenty of reason to bring Henderson back.
The first point is that good running backs do not grow on trees. Henderson averaged 4.5 yards per carry in 2020 and followed up with 4.6 last season.
The league average during that time is 4.4 yards per carry, according to statmuse.com
Therefore, Henderson has been above league average whenever he has carried the rock over the last two seasons.
This leads directly into the second point: what if Cam Akers doesn’t return to form?
Sure, Akers is healthy enough to play after tearing his Achilles, or he would not have played last season. However, he didn’t show the flashes he did as a rookie due to the injury.
Completely agree. He turned heads returning in 5.5 months but his stats were AWFUL. Sure he’s had another 7 months to rehab but even still the data is terrible for a RB in his 1st season back. Also, they still have Darrell Henderson who has earned his share of touches
— Tom Christ, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT (@FantasyInjuryT) June 1, 2022
As a result, Akers averaged just 2.23 yards per carry in the five games he played last season. Does this have a lot to do with the Achilles tear? Almost assuredly, but that is the point.
Look at some of the recent notable running backs to have torn their Achilles.
Marlon Mack has barely received any playing time since his tear in 2020. When he returned in 2021, the 4.85 yards per carry average he once had dropped to a 3.6 average last season.
D’Onta Foreman is another running back who tore his Achilles. His injury occurred in his rookie year of 2017. It took Foreman three years to achieve the 4.3 yards per carry mark that he had in 2020.
If Akers is like any of the players above, he will take multiple years to return to form, if ever.
In 2013, Chris Wesseling of nfl.com said, “our research concludes that no running back has ever recaptured sustained pre-injury form after rupturing an Achilles tendon.”
This is why the Rams need to bring back Darrell Henderson. In the case that Akers doesn’t return to form, the team will still need a running game.
The Rams have an above-league-average back in Henderson. It makes sense for the organization to open the checkbook again this offseason to keep Henderson from becoming a free agent.
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