A few days after he was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams, running back Cam Akers is not expected to be active for the Minnesota Vikings in their upcoming Week 3 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Even though Akers came from the same franchise where current Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell was the offensive coordinator for two seasons, O'Connell said on Friday that it's still "a little too soon to ask to go this week."
Since Minnesota does currently run a similar offensive scheme to what their new running back was used to when he was with the Rams, there were some who thought he might be able to make a quick transition and suit up this weekend. But the Vikings are clearly making sure they're giving Akers the best chance to succeed instead of setting him up for failure by throwing him into the fire.
Unlike the veteran running back, it sounds like new Minnesota offensive lineman Dalton Risner actually has a chance to be active on Sunday against the Chargers.
O'Connell said on Friday that the Vikings coaching staff is still in the process of deciding whether or not Risner will play this weekend. It would be pretty shocking if he was named a starter for Sunday, but it seems like Minnesota's new offensive lineman at least has a decent shot at suiting up for the contest against Los Angeles.
Risner and Akers were added to the Vikings earlier this week with the hope that at least one of them will be able to help the team get things back on track after beginning the season with a loss in each of their first two games.
Will they end up making a difference for Minnesota? Or will things just continue down the same disappointing path for the Vikings this year?