McCready: Loss of Akers a catastrophic blow for Rebels
Tuesday night was crushing for Ole Miss.
Is that the right adjective? Maybe devastating is a better description. Perhaps catastrophic is more apt. None are too strong in their characterization. In reality, there might not be a word that appropriately specifies Ole Miss’ miss on Tuesday night.
Cam Akers, a five-star running back from Clinton, Mississippi, might be the best high school football player from the Magnolia State since, well, ever. Ranked No. 8 by Rivals.com, he is the most coveted prospect from Mississippi in the modern era.
Ole Miss dedicated much of the last three years to recruiting him. No staff spent more man-hours building relationships with his family, his coaches and him. On Tuesday night, Akers committed to Florida State.
Longtime (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger columnist Rick Cleveland believes Akers is the best player in Mississippi high school history, and not to date Cleveland, but he’s seen a lot of Mississippians on the gridiron, including a quarterback named Brett Favre, a running back named Marcus Dupree and a defensive lineman named Fletcher Cox.
"He's the best I've ever seen as far as complete package," Cleveland said. "Marcus was bigger and maybe even faster, but Cam can do more. And from all I hear, he is an extremely dedicated hard worker. That's what eventually separated Walter (Payton) and Jerry (Rice) from their peers-- how hard they worked at it. Apparently Cam has that going for him, too. It strikes me how much he is built like Payton, so much compressed power and explosiveness. Cam really throw it, too. He could start at corner as a freshman, too. He's just the complete package.”
In my opinion, losing Akers marks the biggest loss for Ole Miss on the recruiting trail since Peyton Manning signed with Tennessee in 1994. Archie Manning’s middle son was a generational talent, all but destined for Oxford until Billy Brewer screwed it up by landing in NCAA hot water and hiring a veer-option-oriented offensive coordinator at the end of Manning’s high school career in New Orleans.
Some 22 years later, Manning’s decision to sign with Tennessee still resonates. Manning went on to win five NFL MVP awards and lead three teams to Super Bowls, winning one in Indianapolis and one in Denver. There’s no spinning away from that. Few college programs will ever suffer a missed opportunity bigger.
Whether Akers will have the impact on the game Manning had is impossible to know. However, Akers is very much a generational talent. He draws favorable comparisons to Dallas Cowboys rookie star/MVP candidate Ezekiel Elliott. He’s charismatic. He’s smart. In Montgomery earlier this month, when Akers arrived to play for Team Mississippi in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic, his peers/teammates gravitated towards him. It was obvious and it was effortless. Akers is a leader. That’s clear. He’s also a young man who loves Mississippi and wanted to represent it. Ole Miss hasn’t always gotten those players, but Akers loved the idea of playing in Oxford.
"He's so physical," said Mississippi Gridiron's Chris Brooks, a Jackson-based radio talk show host who has been covering Mississippi high school football for the past decade. "He ran a laser-timed 4.41-second 40-yard dash. His athleticism is off the charts."
With an NCAA investigation still looming and on the heels of a 5-7 season, however, Akers just couldn’t pull the trigger on a decision that would’ve thrilled most in his home state. In the end, there were too many question marks at Ole Miss and no clear mark against Florida State other than distance.
Without Akers, Ole Miss is left to scramble. There’s no running back to fill Akers’ spot in this signing class. Let no one spin otherwise. The Rebels now really need Eric Swinney to return to health and stay healthy in 2017. They need Jordan Wilkins to have no rust. They can’t afford injuries in the offensive backfield.
Even worse for Ole Miss, if that's possible, Akers might have had coattails, this year and certainly for the next couple. It's not far-fetched to think Akers' presence in Oxford would've been attractive to other players, both from Mississippi and beyond. We’ll never know now.
Ole Miss needed momentum on Tuesday night. It got it, just in the absolute worst possible direction.