Yesterday the news dropped that Cam Akers, the LA Rams second year lead back, tore his Achilles tendon. Now the Super Bowl contending Rams turn to Darrell Henderson and a committee of unproven young players to fill his shoes. Henderson is a solid back who has averaged 4.4 YPC in a limited role through two seasons. He has speed and fits the outside zone attack but the Rams have shown that they do not believe he can handle a full time workload. Behind Henderson the Rams have Jake Funk, Xavier Jones, Raymond Calais, and Otis Anderson. They are clearly in win now mode and will need to bring in a complement to spell Henderson on passing downs.
Devin Singletary has not lived up to his 3rd round draft capital through two seasons but he would be an immediate answer to the Rams problems. He has a career 4.8 YPC in the Bills zone scheme and has caught 67 passes. He has two years left on his rookie deal so this makes perfect sense for the Rams. The Bills drafted Zack Moss in the 3rd round of the 2020 draft and are hoping he can become the feature back. They have Antonio Williams on the roster who had 2 touchdowns and 5.3 YPC in his only game on the active roster. Veteran speedster Matt Breida was also signed in the offseason. If the Bills want to give Moss a full workload then trading Singletary makes a lot of sense. GM Brandon Beane has a history of trading depreciating assets for mid to late round picks and this could be his next move. If Singletary stays and has another average season then we will likely draft an RB high in 2022 and cut ties with him. Even if he were to have a great season, the Bills would probably let him walk with no return in the 2023 offseason. Fetching a 5th or 6th right now would be great value in either scenario.
Ultimately, I don’t think that losing Devin Singletary would change much for the Bills this season. If the Rams are willing to trade a 2022 5th or 6th round pick to damage control the loss of Akers then Brandon Beane should take that deal.