DRBR: Minnesota Vikings
- Jun 27, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 8, 2025
There could be a spicy backfield situation brewing with the Minnesota Vikings. Aaron Jones, coming off of a career year, did well in terms of volume. Even his efficiency scores were not all that bad. It was a good bounce-back campaign for him — kind of sticking it to the Packers for letting him walk.
But Jordan Mason, who they just traded for, is going to give him a run for his money.
Aaron Jones had a career year last season in terms of volume — more rushing attempts, more rushing yards than any single season that he had with the Green Bay Packers. But he also saw a little bit of a drop in efficiency this past season, with some of his lowest efficiency scores in the DRBR since he entered the league.
His yards per attempt also took a drop as well. Over the last couple of seasons, when he was really in his prime in the middle of his 20s, he was averaging right around five yards per carry, if not over. But over the last few seasons, he’s gone from 5.3 to 4.6 to 4.5.
It doesn’t seem like a big drop, but now that he’s going to be 31, you’ve got to wonder if some of that explosiveness is not quite there anymore.
Now insert Jordan Mason, who San Francisco traded to Minnesota over the offseason to be a viable candidate to compete with Aaron Jones for touches.
Last season, Jordan Mason, in lieu of Christian McCaffrey, who was injured, started the first seven games of the season. Over that time span, he ran for over 100 yards three times, and over 70 yards in every single game but one. During that time frame, he averaged 5.2 yards per carry.
The DRBR scores are great for him:
72 in yards after contact
85 in tackles avoided per attempt
On a limited basis, he looked great last season. He’s coming into year four, only going to be 26, and he is the younger, more brutal running back of the two that could help make the run game more physical for the Minnesota Vikings.
And given the offense they have there — and Aaron Jones’ history with injuries — it wouldn’t shock me, based on all this information, if Jordan Mason wouldn’t be a league winner in 2025.
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