Strategy for The Vikings’ X-Factor? “Get Him the Ball in Space”
Almost indisputably, Aaron Jones is one of the Vikings’ x-factor players.
Getting the running game off the ground is of the utmost importance for a Minnesota team that’s making a switch at quarterback. Kirk Cousins’ golden arm is no longer in town to throw passes with precision. Instead, it’s journeyman Sam Darnold — complete with his career 59.7% completion rate — who is looking to show that he can come close to his No. 3 overall draft status. No doubt, getting some ground support will make life a bit easier for the 27-year-old passer.
Playing under a single-season, $7 million deal, Mr. Jones should be quite motivated to show that he’s still got plenty of life left in his lungs and legs. After all, Green Bay — the dreaded division foe — decided to move on in favor of a younger runner (Josh Jacobs, signed to a four-year, $48M deal). That’s gotta be motivating, right?
Kevin O’Connell spoke about his talented new runner in a sitdown conversation with KFAN’s Paul Allen earlier in the week. The head coach begins his answer by explaining that Jones can run from all kinds of different positions and formations before going on to suggest that Minnesota will be looking to get the former Packer into open space.
Aaron Jones, The Vikings’ X-Factor, Needs to Get Into Open Space
Every single offensive coach wants their talented players to have the football in open space. Why slam the running back into Dexter Lawrence if there’s an option to let him run free in green grass?
The strategy isn’t particularly profound or unique. Identify someone who is fast, explosive, tough, and/or shifty. Put the ball in that guy’s hands and put him in some open room. Good chance he makes a defender or two miss on his way to positive yards.
Kevin O’Connell believes he has a special talent in Aaron Jones, so the offensive playcaller is looking to respond accordingly.
“He’s a weapon with the ball in his hands in space,” O’Connell explains, “and how do we find ways to get him the ball in space?” The rhetorical questions leads into O’Connell’s next point: the offense as a whole is loaded with skill. The emphasis is thus twofold: find open room for Jones while understanding that the others are going to be demanding no shortage of attention.
The coach’s words: “How does he play off of understanding that there’s a lot of coverage responsibility to defend Justin [Jefferson], and Jordan [Addison], and eventually T.J. [Hockenson] when he makes it back? We’ve got the type of weapons on offense where the running back really can’t be the first thing you’re talking about every single week. And so we’ve got to take advantage of that and get him the ball in space.”
To finish his thought, O’Connell simply notes that “Vikings fans are going to be really excited we got Aaron Jones.”
To O’Connell’s mind, there are at least a couple layers to consider. First, there’s the need for him as the offensive architect and play caller to find ways to get Jones into advantageous situations. Doing so will almost certainly lead to positive plays for Minnesota.
But then there’s Jones himself understanding that the skill is so ample and abundant that he may find more room than he’s used to having. From within that understanding, the 29-year-old Jones can hopefully show himself to be both a capable runner and pass catcher.
In 2023, Aaron Jones played in eleven games. He picked up 142 carries for 656 yards (4.6 average) and 2 touchdowns. He added on 30 receptions for 233 yards and 1 touchdown.
He’ll make his Vikings debut on Sunday, September 8th at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.
