Alexander Mattison and Cam Akers sat in the Minnesota Vikings’ locker room. They were coming off their first victory of the season over the Carolina Panthers, but Mattison or Akers didn’t seem to be themselves.
Kevin O’Connell walked into the room and noticed something was wrong. When he looked at the two running backs, they started laughing maniacally and gave O’Connell a haunting choice.
“You can only choose one!” Mattison cackled.
“Actually, I can choose both of you,” O’Connell replied. “It’s called a running back by committee. You see, the running back position has a lot of variables and really you can change it by getting younger and cheaper in the backfield. And by doing so, I can utilize both of you to the best of your ability.”
As O’Connell droned on, the clouds formed a vortex and Jonathan Taylor appeared ready to strike with the force of a thousand suns…before O’Connell woke up in a cold sweat.
It was the night before the Panthers game, and Minnesota’s running game was in a pinch. Mattison had struggled operating as the lead back and O’Connell came up with an idea that could save his season.
What if we used two backs? he wondered.
He manifested that thought on Sunday afternoon. The Vikings churned out a season-high 135 rushing yards against the Panthers. Sunday’s win wasn’t Minnesota’s prettiest, but it could signal a change going forward. Having two Alexander Mattisons could be better than one.
Akers and Mattison are different backs, but they have plenty of similarities. Both backs were Day 2 picks in the NFL Draft and their respective teams chose to make them the lead back before experiencing underwhelming results.
Mattison was a third-round pick by the Vikings at the discretion of former offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak and served as an effective caddie for Dalvin Cook over his first four seasons. Even though he had a career-low in carries while Cook was the lead back last season, Minnesota thrust Mattison into the spotlight when they re-signed him in the spring.
The move may have been surprising – especially when the Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer reported that the Vikings promised Mattison the starting running back job when he agreed to return. But the plan was never to make Mattison into a bell-cow back. Minnesota wanted an effective group of running backs that they could switch out in different game scenarios and lean on in case of injury.
Minnesota’s initial plans fell through in glorious fashion. Ty Chandler was expected to take a step forward after putting himself on the map with a strong preseason in the summer of 2022. But outside of an average performance in the opener in Seattle, he never gained the trust of the coaching staff.
Seventh-round pick DeWayne McBride earned a starter’s grade from Minnesota’s front office during their pre-draft evaluation. But he also struggled during the preseason and failed to make the active roster out of training camp.
That left Mattison locked in as the top back without an effective Plan B. While Mattison’s skillset represents a three-down starter, he was the only option in the backfield while running for 62 yards on 19 carries with a fumble in his first two games.
With Chandler unable to gain a yard on four attempts, the Vikings realized they needed to make an upgrade in the backfield. But it wasn’t with the intent to replace Mattison. Free-agent options such as Kareem Hunt and Leonard Fournette may have been too flashy for this role, which convinced O’Connell to go to a familiar face and acquire Akers from the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams took Akers in the second round, and he had a better relative athletic score (8.81 RAS) than Mattison (6.85) coming into the league. Although he had talent, Akers didn’t put up big numbers with an underwhelming Florida State team and a torn Achilles in his second season sapped some of his explosiveness.
While Akers remained in Los Angeles, Sean McVay built a stable of backs through free agency and the draft. When Kyren Williams emerged as the lead back this offseason, Akers became expendable. Therefore, the Vikings could get him affordably to improve their backfield.
Akers and Mattison can find common ground by not being able to seize the role of “the guy” in their respective backfields. But they can also complement each other to ensure there isn’t a drop-off in the Vikings backfield.
“It comes down to efficiency,” O’Connell said during last spring’s NFL combine. “The home runs and long [runs] are great, but as a play caller, I’d love to be second-and-five. If you tell me I’m second-and-five, here we go. We’re in a position to do a lot of different things regardless of field position, score of the game and personnel groupings.”
That showed up in Sunday’s game plan. Mattison got the bulk of the work with 17 carries for 95 yards, but Akers mixed in with five carries for 40 yards. While Mattison had more opportunities, the Vikings didn’t miss a beat when a different back came, which seemed to be Minnesota’s game plan moving forward.
“It’s kind of how I envisioned it,” O’Connell said of Sunday’s performance in the backfield. “Maybe sprinkle [Chandler] in here and there to get a little bit of that 4.37 [speed] out there as well. So, we’ve got versatility in that running back room.”
With that statement, it’s clear that O’Connell would prefer to have two backs like Mattison then rely on just one bell cow. Think of it as having a fleet of dependable trucks as opposed to a high-maintenance Ferrari.
It’s why O’Connell doesn’t have to choose a single bell cow when he can keep everyone fresh and Minnesota’s efficiency on the ground should improve with each passing week.
