Vikings Offense Poised for a Bold Shift in 2025
The Minnesota Vikings will have some different personnel in the upcoming season. On the offensive line, Will Fries and Ryan Kelly are desired acquisitions, and J.J. McCarthy is expected to take over the QB1 spot from departed Sam Darnold.
Vikings Offense Poised for a Bold Shift in 2025
Kevin O’Connell has led the offense for three seasons, and while the passing attack has been respectable, especially considering the signal-callers, the overall offensive stats still leave some room for improvement.
The main reason for that is the ground game. O’Connell is a pass-first coach and hasn’t shown the willingness to stick with the running game. To some extent, the offensive line and the running backs can be used as an excuse, although he should re-evaluate his approach, too.
The additions of Fries and Kelly can help in that regard, and so could Jordan Mason, the latest trade acquisition.
At his recent press conference, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was asked about Minnesota’s new weapon, and he emphasized that Mason would help the club win games.
“Like I said, we want to be able to win any game and so if we’ve got to run it 40 times, we want to run in 40 times with those two guys, and so we’re just really excited about the pairing,” Adofo-Mensah said. “And then with my experience with that front office, obviously, when it’s time to make a transaction, we can be really transparent and honest with each other, and those deals happen that way.”
Just last season, the Vikings’ season ended in Arizona against the Los Angeles Rams, a team that struggled all year against the run. With Darnold seemingly seeing ghosts again, having the ability to run the ball could’ve led to a better offensive output.
Mason had a significant workload in San Francisco last season during Christian McCaffrey’s absence early in the year. In four contests, he logged at least 19 carries, and the exciting aspect is that he surpassed 5.0 yards per carry in three of them, with the one outlier still being a decent 4.1.
He has shown that he can be a workhorse rusher while continuing to be efficient. Aaron Jones registered a career-high 255 rushing attempts in his first season with the purple NFC North franchise, but he got banged up a few times and is 30 years old. Lowering his touches could help keep the one-time Pro Bowler fresh and healthy.
The combination makes sense from a style perspective. Adofo-Mensah agrees.
“We’re really excited about the tandem, the pairing, just the physical play style, Mason is really more of a four-minute back, when he gets to the second level he can do a lot of things with contact balance and different things like that. Aaron’s — actually for a smaller guy runs pretty physical himself — really good in the passing game. So, we just like the pairing.”
Is running 40 times actually a thing in Minnesota? That sounds a lot like the good old Adrian Peterson days.
Indeed, with O’Connell running the show, the Vikings have reached 40 runs in a game once, in last season’s triumph over the Jaguars. Darnold played possibly his worst game of the season, and the Vikings controlled the clock, ultimately winning a one-possession game that shouldn’t have been one in the first place.
Since the coach was hired, the Vikings rank 28th with 24.6 rushing attempts per game.
During Peterson’s tenure (2007-2016), the Vikings tabulated at least 40 rushes in 12 games (he didn’t play in all of them). Since his departure in 2017, it’s happened five times, including the Jaguars game in 2024.
The running game has taken a backseat for too long, and it’s nice to see the Vikings actually feeling the need to improve. It will take some pressure off of McCarthy, and it will make the offense more versatile and balanced.
Mason is also ready for it. At his introductory presser, he was asked about what he liked about O’Connell’s offense. He said, “I just like that he wants to give me that ball, so that’s what I love about it.”
Expect the powerful runner to be more than just an RB2 with a handful of carries per game, like some backups in the past. The Vikings want to use the newcomer.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt