Kevin SeifertJul 29, 2025, 06:00 AM ETCloseKevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times.
He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.Follow on X
Kevin SeifertJul 29, 2025, 06:00 AM ET
CloseKevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times.
He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.Follow on X
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EAGAN, Minn. — One of the worst-kept secrets of theMinnesota Vikings’ offseason was their plan tocreate a substantive backfield rotationafter they relied almost exclusively on veteranAaron Jones Sr.last season. Within a week of the start of free agency, they had followed through by re-signing Jones and acquiringJordan Masonin a trade with theSan Francisco 49ers.
What that rotation will look like, however, is one of the mysteries of training camp.
“I’m not sure,” Jones said.
“It’s going to roll how it’s going to roll,” Mason said
“You can look at it a lot of ways,” according to coach Kevin O’Connell.
No NFL coach would spell out a detailed strategy in public, of course, and the truth is that the split of carries among Jones, Mason and perhaps fourth-year backupTy Chandlerwill vary based on game circumstances.
But early training camp practices have provided some clues. Jones received the initial snaps in most drills, while Mason opened Monday’s full-pads practice with the first carry of first-team drills.
A review of O’Connell’s history at the position is also instructive.
The Vikings were one of the NFL’s most pass-happy teams in O’Connell’s first two seasons, with the NFL’s fourth-highest rate of designed passes (66.4%) from 2022 to 2023. He pulled back noticeably upon Jones’ arrival last season, which coincided with the transition fromKirk CousinstoSam Darnoldat quarterback, as the Vikings ranked No.
16 at 61%.
One constant over O’Connell’s tenure is that his top running back has gotten at least two-thirds of the team’s snaps and running back carries. That was true forDalvin Cookin 2022,Alexander Mattisonin 2023 (before injuries slowed him in Week 10) and Jones last season. In other words, anything less than a 2:1 snap ratio between Jones and Mason will be a notable departure from that pattern.
Source: Espnnfl
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