Vikings Bounce Back Candidate is Crucial to 2024 Success
Lately, PFF has been offering some league-wide articles, such as their assessment of every team’s best players.
More recently, Bradley Locker offered an article titled “Bounce-back candidates for all 32 NFL teams in 2024.” Scrolling down to the Minnesota portion reveals a somewhat surprising Vikings bounce-back candidate: running back Aaron Jones.
Aaron Jones as a Vikings Bounce-Back Candidate
Jones played well in 2023. The issue is simply that he wasn’t around as much as the Packers would have hoped.
The veteran runner was involved in just eleven games. He picked up 142 carries for 656 rushing yards, leading to a rock-solid 4.6 YPC average (as a team, Minnesota was sitting at a 4.0 average for the year, a number that’s far more impressive as a GPA than it is as a team’s YPC).
Keep in mind that Jones brought the football across the goal line a pair of times on the ground. As a pass catcher, Jones was leaned on for 30 receptions, 233 yards, and 1 touchdown.
PFF’s Locker concluded that Jones stands out as being the top bounce-back candidate for Minnesota.
Part of his rationale: “Jones mustered 889 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns last year, primarily because he missed six games with hamstring and knee injuries. At the same time, his numbers after contact and in receiving efficiency were largely on par with the past few years, where he was one of the top backfield weapons in football. Plus, Jones earned four straight games with a grade above 80.0 as the season wound down, presumably as he got healthier.”
Not too long afterwards, Locker discusses how being able to “avoid more injuries” can lead to strong play in Minnesota. The thinking is simply that A.J. Dillon isn’t around to siphon off touches — Ty Chandler will be doing that, but the RB2 doesn’t get mentioned — and that Aaron Jones will be “key” in assisting the QBs “given Kevin O’Connell’s affinity for play action.”
For a long time, Vikings fans grew accustomed to elite running because of the presence of Adrian Peterson and Dalvin Cook. The past couple seasons, though, have involved some more modest efforts.
In 2023, the Vikings finished at 29th in the NFL by piling up 1,553 rushing yards. The rushing touchdowns were in a tie for last place — 7 TDs on the ground — but the yards-per-carry average was a bit better, coming in at a 4.0 average, good enough to be in a tie for 21st in the NFL.
Seeing Aaron Jones bounce back would mean the Vikings’ offense doesn’t need the passing game to shoulder such a large load. Passing on 3rd & 3 is much different from passing on 3rd & 9. Plus, there could even be more games where Minnesota wins the time of possession battle.
Jones is operating on a single-season deal that is kicking over $7 million. Offering excellent play could very plausibly lead to a new deal to stick around Minnesota for a little while longer.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap 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.