Inside The Vikings

Vikings elevate veteran RB from practice squad for second straight week

Cam Akers is up on the gameday roster for the second week in a row since re-joining the Vikings.
Will Ragatz|
Nov 5, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Cam Akers (31) runs with the ball against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Nov 5, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Cam Akers (31) runs with the ball against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Vikings

For the second straight week since re-joining the Vikings, running back Cam Akers has been elevated from the practice squad to the active roster. He'll once again join Zavier Scott as a depth option behind workhorse starter Jordan Mason in Minnesota's backfield for Sunday's game against the Steelers in Ireland.

Akers is in his third separate stint with the Vikings over the past three years. They acquired him from the Rams in a September 2023 trade, but Akers unfortunately suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in early November of that year. After the second Achilles rehab process of his career, he signed with the Texans the following summer. And in October, the Vikings traded for Akers for the second year in a row.

This year, Akers was with the Saints in the offseason until he was released shortly before roster cutdown day. On September 17, after an injury to Aaron Jones, the Vikings signed Akers to their practice squad.

Akers handled five carries for 19 yards in garbage time during last Sunday's blowout win over the Bengals. He was the clear RB3, playing just seven snaps to 17 for Scott and 36 for Mason. Scott recorded 50 yards on nine touches and saw some action prior to garbage time. It'll be interesting to see if Scott remains in the RB2 role now that Akers has had another week to get re-acclimated to Minnesota's offense.

Regardless, Mason figures to dominate snaps and touches at running back for the Vikings against the Steelers. He ran 16 times for 116 yards and two touchdowns last week, but wasn't needed in the fourth quarter of a 38-point victory.

Akers, 26, is in his sixth NFL season. A second-round pick by the Rams out of Florida State in 2020, he had a career year with 903 total yards and seven touchdowns in 2022. Akers has scored four touchdowns in 19 career games with the Vikings over parts of three seasons.

Kickoff is at 8:30 a.m. central time on Sunday (2:30 p.m. in Dublin).

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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