A Vikings Controversy Quietly Resolved Itself
It’s not been a good 24 hours for the Minnesota Vikings, as the club lost the Week 2 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons and, in the process, lost its starting quarterback for a few weeks. Furthermore, various other players left Sunday’s contest with injuries.
A Vikings Controversy Quietly Resolved Itself
Among those are offensive linemen Ryan Kelly and Justin Skule, who both landed in concussion protocol, putting their Week 3 availability in serious jeopardy. Star defender Jonathan Greenard played through his injury, and so did J.J. McCarthy, but the latter will likely be sidelined for a few games.
Replacement Carson Wentz might have a depleted group of weapons with Aaron Jones also likely to miss Sunday’s Cincinnati bout, Kevin O’Connell announced on Monday.
“Aaron Jones, we’re still in the process of evaluating his hamstring as of right now. [We] want to make sure we have a good understanding of it, and [he’s] likely to be down this week, and we’ll figure out the determining factor for that timeline.”
Jones suffered a hamstring injury, and those can vary between a few days and months. Linebacker Blake Cashman is on IR with a hamstring injury, and Justin Jefferson missed nearly two months of play in the 2023 season.
At this point, we’re just guessing, so let’s start with what we know. Well, Mr. Jones won’t be available on Sunday against the Bengals, but that’s why the front office acquired a high-end backup in the offseason. Jones was banged up last year various times but played through some injuries he probably shouldn’t have, in part because there was no real alternate on the roster with Ty Chandler and Cam Akers being his running mates.
This time, however, Jordan Mason is in the building, and he is ready for the bellcow role, as he proved last year, when top runner Christian McCaffrey was out with an Achilles injury. Throughout that season with the 49ers, he rushed for 789 yards and three touchdowns, and he added another 91 yards as a pass catcher.
Especially intriguing is his career average of 5.2 yards per carry, and even in last year’s elevated role, he registered 5.2 yards per attempt. In the games without McCaffrey to start the year, he averaged 107 yards from scrimmage, and his efficiency didn’t drop one bit.
In two games with the Vikings, Mason rushed 24 times for 98 yards, and he caught three passes from McCarthy for 15 yards.
In fact, he looked like the more dynamic rusher in the first two games of the season, and the statistics confirm that. Jones accumulated 13 carries for 46 yards. Mason’s average yards per attempt is higher, his success rate is higher, his rushing yards over expected is superior, and PFF has given him a better rushing grade. None of it is particularly close.
There have been voices that want Mason to be the official RB1. Through two games, he has 58 plays on his resume, and Jones has 48, who also started both contests. That conversation, however, will be delayed for at least another week, and the Vikings can test Mason in the starting role.
Vikings Territory’s Dustin Baker noted, “Sneakily, Mason might have already taken over the RB1 job with Jones healthy. To the naked eye, he has more pop than Jones through two games, and the numbers confirm the eye test. Now, without any mysteries anywhere, Mason will get a crack at the RB1 job — perhaps as a bellcow — and it will be up to him to retain it. He doesn’t necessarily have to give the job back to Jones when Jones has healed.”
His ability to be a powerful and physical running back might just be what the offense needs early in games. He can set the tone in the first drive or two, while Jones, once he’s back from his absence, can finesse his way through the bruised defense after having to hit Mason multiple times.
In each of the last two games, the Vikings needed multiple drives to gain a first down of the day, and Mason’s juice might be the spark the Vikings need.
Expect the 26-year-old to be the featured back for at least one week.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.