The Los Angeles Rams had a fairly serious running back problem, and they addressed it Wednesday morning.
The Rams, who will be without Cam Akers for the entire 2021 season, acquired Sony Michel in a trade with the Patriots. The 2018 first-round pick clearly was on the outs in New England, and the end result was a deal that sure looks like a win-win for both sides.
Speaking with the media Wednesday, LA general manager Les Snead explained what about Michel appealed to the organization.
“That’s going to be a complementary backfield,” Snead told reporters, per CBS Sports. “What he does bring is this element of make a cut, get north and south and get north and south with some force. The physics that he brings to the table — let’s call it a flavor of genre that we felt like complemented our group.”
Snead added: “We identified Sony for many reasons. Number one, being his experience — and experience, meaning like a player who has carried the ball in big games and in those big games, where there have been big moments, big drives, big series — is the experience of where he played, how he was coached. So, he was one of those players. If we were going to go the route of experience, he was someone who would definitely eye him from the start.”
Some could argue Michel was dealt somewhat of a raw deal in Foxboro. With little competition around him among the Rams’ backfield, the fourth-year pro should have plenty of opportunities to prove his doubters wrong this season.
