EAGAN, Minn. — It appears protected to rule out at the very least one chance because the Minnesota Vikings kind by way of their backfield choices this spring. They don’t wish to repeat their heavy use of veteran Aaron Jones, who set profession highs in touches (306), carries (255) and offensive snaps (700) in his first season with the crew.
Jones made it by way of all 18 video games, even whereas nursing hip, rib and quadriceps accidents. He had essentially the most dashing yards (1,138) and second-most yards from scrimmage (1,546) in his profession. However as he approaches free company at age 30, the Vikings have signaled that they are going to dial again his enjoying time if he returns.
“The large factor for me is we liked having Aaron Jones, the affect he had,” coach Kevin O’Connell advised SiriusXM earlier this month. “For the higher a part of his profession, he had type of been part of backfield committees, however for essentially the most half, Aaron Jones was the function again [in 2024]. … So I’d like to have Aaron again. After which we simply proceed to develop in that room, whether or not it is infusing a younger participant within the draft or perhaps one other participant in free company alongside Aaron Jones, hopefully.”
Better of NFL Nation
• Can Eberflus carry juice to Cowboys’ protection?• Who will the Patriots be watching on the mix?• What’s subsequent for Vikings’ backfield, Aaron Jones?• Six key free-agent choices for Raiders• Can Chiefs resolve LT, WR wants in draft?
O’Connell made comparable feedback heading into the 2024 season, and the imaginative and prescient appeared clear throughout a Week 1 victory over the New York Giants. Jones carried the ball 14 instances for 94 yards and a landing whereas enjoying 52% of the crew’s snaps, and third-year backup Ty Chandler took one other eight carries and performed 35.7% of the snaps.
However the Vikings quickly misplaced religion in Chandler and, throughout a transition interval after they acquired Cam Akers as the brand new backup, Jones slid into extra of an every-down position. He performed 63% of the crew’s offensive snaps and took 67% of the crew’s carries by working backs the remainder of the way in which.
Talking after the Vikings’ wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Jones mentioned he “in fact” hoped to return to Minnesota in 2025.
“We’ll see the way it performs out,” he added, “however that is the place I wish to be.”
Even when he’s finest suited to extra of a rotational position, Jones stays top-of-the-line choices in a presumptive free agent class that additionally contains Najee Harris, J.Okay. Dobbins, Rico Dowdle, Javonte Williams and Akers. His $7 million contract final season ranked 14th amongst working backs in common per 12 months (APY), and he might have a number of suitors amongst groups that wish to signal a veteran runner.
Editor’s Picks
2 Associated
Many groups, nevertheless, shall be sorting by way of what’s projected to be a deep class of working backs within the draft. ESPN’s Discipline Yates ranks Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton, Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Georgia’s Trevor Etienne as the highest 5 accessible.
With 4 projected picks, the Vikings have the bottom whole of draft capital within the NFL. Would drafting a working again make sense for a crew that additionally wants to deal with the inside of each strains, whereas coping with a group of circumstances that has left their high 4 cornerbacks and two beginning safeties all eligible without spending a dime company?
The Vikings have made modest makes an attempt in recent times to construct their backfield depth by way of the draft, choosing Chandler within the 2022 fifth spherical and including DeWayne McBride within the seventh spherical the next 12 months. However they acquired Akers by way of commerce in each 2023 and 2024 to supplant Chandler on the depth chart, whereas McBride spent 2023 on the follow squad and was waived after coaching camp final summer season.
All of this dialogue, in fact, is dedicated to what has been a secondary ingredient of the Vikings’ offense since O’Connell arrived in 2022. Having constructed the scheme round All-Professional receiver Justin Jefferson, the Vikings ranked No. 29 in designed runs (33.6 per recreation) throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons mixed.
That proportion rose to 39 in 2024 (seventeenth in NFL) as O’Connell sought extra stability amid a quarterback transition from Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold. That was the impetus behind signing Jones final spring, and it’ll stay a precedence because the Vikings think about whether or not to show over their offense to second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
If Jones returns, nevertheless, it is going to seemingly look completely different from his workhorse position in 2024.
