Untangling the Vikings’ Backfield for Fantasy Football
Handcuffing the top pair of runners would be the best move.
The Vikings’ backfield is being led by Aaron Jones, the former Packer who is now trading in cheese on his head for some horns. Behind the veteran is Ty Chander, a soon-to-be third-year player who has speed aplenty. At this stage, Jones looks like the better add, but snagging both would be the way to go for fantasy footballers.
The Vikings’ Backfield and Fantasy Football
Success in fantasy is all about crushing average draft position. Snagging a RD1 talent in RD1 is important and part of winning it all; snagging a RD1 talent in RD6 is what will actually allow someone to win it all, though.
Neither Jones nor Chandler look like RD1 talents.
Currently, ESPN’s PPR rankings sees Aaron Jones down at 65th overall, meaning he’s the RB21. Meanwhile, things are even more modest for Ty Chandler. Minnesota’s backup running back is down at 123rd overall as the RB44.
Again, though, handcuffing the pair would be the best move.
Jones is the one to get. Snagging him somewhere in RD6 or RD7 in fantasy drafts could end up being tremendous value. He finished off last season on an absolute tear and has never been an inefficient runner. Plus, the man knows how to catch passes, adding an extra layer of appeal for fantasy football.
If the 29-year-old does need to spend time getting back to full health, then having Chandler ready to roll makes sense.
Chandler’s best game in 2023 arrived on the road in Cincinnati. He turned 23 carries into 132 yards and a touchdown. Through the air, Chandler had three catches and 25 yards. For a single week in the season, Chandler performed like an RB1.
Does he have more of that in 2024? For the season, Chandler had 102 carries for 461 yards and 3 touchdowns. The 4.5 yards-per-carry average is pretty tidy. Seeing that carryover into a season with somewhere between 150-200 carries would be encouraging for real and fantasy football.
Truth be told, getting too excited about Minnesota’s runners could be a foolish thing to do. After all, we’re talking about a Kevin O’Connell offense that doesn’t lack for enthusiasm when it comes to passing the ball. Not only has Minnesota been bad at running the ball, but it’s something they don’t do super often. In 2023, the Vikings were 28th in the NFL since they ran just 393 times.
The thinking is simply that Kirk Cousins’ golden arm is now down in Georgia, so there’s no time like the present to run the ball with more consistency. Facing 3rd and 4 is far better than facing 3rd and 8. Running the ball is often the key to getting into those looks.
If your draft involves going heavy on receivers, a tight end, and/or a QB early, then circling around to Minnesota’s run game in the middle rounds isn’t the worst approach. After the Vikings’ top twosome, there isn’t a lot of optimism. In other words, the workload for Jones and Chandler should be steady, all things considered.
Aaron Jones is going to be leaned on as the RB1 when he’s healthy, which likely means 12-15 carries a game and somewhere around 3-5 targets in the passing game. Regaining some of his scoring prowess could result in him being a nice value add. Oh, and he’ll be doing that work from within an offense where Justin Jefferson is demanding no shortage of attention.
Hedge your bet a touch by picking up Chandler late and one of your RB slots may be in a healthy spot for the upcoming fantasy season.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.