One of the most overused and cliché terms in fantasy sports is “league-winner.” It refers to a player who has been acquired via waivers and comes from relative obscurity to not only save your fantasy season but guide you to a championship as well. 

But fantasy managers are fickle, and the term gets thrown around way too much. Seattle’s Kenneth Walker spent much of this season being referred to as a league-winner, but after four straight down games, he was cast aside for new flavors of the week. As we approach Week 17 and your fantasy championship, we have a new contender, much more deserving of the title. 

Your 2022 Fantasy Football League-Winner Award goes to Rams running back Cam Akers. Returning from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in late 2020, Akers played the final five games of 2021 but failed to produce. His draft stock took a major tumble this year, and his early-season struggles saw most people dropping him to waivers. A few remained loyal, but that faith was quickly stripped away when a rift developed between Akers and head coach Sean McVay. 

Akers left the team for a few weeks but was eventually brought back and began to see an increased role. There was hope, but it was still minimal. Then Week 13 rolled around, and Akers found the end zone twice against Seattle. The following week he scored again and, suddenly, there was renewed faith. His Week 15 was fairly mediocre, but he exploded in Week 16 to the tune of 118 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. 

Not only were the Rams players and coaches all smiles, but fantasy managers were doing cartwheels as Akers helped vault them to a spot in their fantasy championship and now has the opportunity to win it for them. 

Week 17 puts Akers front-and-center against the Chargers, a team that ranks 25th in DVOA against the run, allows the fifth-most rushing yards per game and has given up 15 rushing touchdowns on the season. If Akers can see his usual 15-20 carries, he is going to dominate. 

Though the fantasy community can drive you insane with its fickleness and penchant to overvalue mediocrity, some standouts actually deserve your recognition. Akers has always been a talented running back but was simply dealt a bad hand. He is now 100 percent recovered from his injury, he and his coach are back on the same page, and he is about to deliver the trophy to your front door. 

Howard Bender is the VP of operations and head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy sports advice, player projections, injury updates and more.