The Vikings have spent plenty of time building around Kevin O’Connell’s passing game, but the backfield still looks like a spot where Minnesota may have left itself short.
Last season, the offense produced its best rushing efficiency under O’Connell at 4.5 yards per carry. Even so, the Vikings finished 27th in the league with 410 rushing attempts, a total that got a boost after the team scaled things back to help J.J.
McCarthy over the final five games. O’Connell has also looked for help elsewhere, bringing in offensive line coach Keith Carter and assistant head coach Frank Smith, who previously served as Mike McDaniel’s offensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins.
The bigger question is whether the personnel is enough.
Minnesota is set to roll into the season with Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones back in the mix, and the Vikings also added Demond Claiborne from Wake Forest in the sixth round of April’s draft. Zavier Scott gave them a useful option when called on last season, but the group still carries plenty of uncertainty.
Mason came to Minnesota with real buzz after a career-high 789 rushing yards and three touchdowns for the San Francisco 49ers in 2024. His first year with the Vikings was solid, but not quite the splash many expected: 758 yards and six touchdowns on 159 carries. Pro Football Reference credited him with a 56.0% success rate, though his role as a receiver stayed limited with 14 catches for 51 scoreless yards.
That usage pattern told its own story. Mason was on the field for 63.5% of the Vikings’ offensive snaps through the first seven weeks, then that number dropped to 29.4% from Weeks 8 through 16. Jones picked up the slack, but he comes with his own concerns as he enters his age-32 season after being limited to 12 games in 2025 because of hamstring, shoulder, ankle and hip injuries.
Those injury issues helped push Minnesota toward Claiborne in the draft. During minicamp, Jones compared Claiborne’s burst to Detroit Lions star Jahmyr Gibbs, but the rookie also posted a 29.9 pass-blocking grade on 42 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. Ball security is another issue, with five fumbles on 179 attempts last season, which may have played a role in his slide to the final day of the draft.
Ty Chandler can attest that speed alone won’t keep a back on the field in O’Connell’s offense if the blocking and ball security aren’t there. That leaves the Vikings with three backs who all have some kind of flaw heading into next season.
It also helps explain why Minnesota was reportedly interested in Travis Etienne early in free agency and checked in on Kenneth Walker III and Kenneth Gainwell before both signed elsewhere, according to Purple Insider’s Matthew Coller.
Maybe Mason delivers another strong season, Jones stays healthy and Claiborne adds the burst the Vikings have been missing. Maybe O’Connell’s commitment to throwing in short-yardage situations makes the whole debate less important.
Still, there’s a real case that Minnesota should have done more to find a more proven runner. Even if the changes up front and on the sideline work, the Vikings could end up wishing they had been more aggressive in fixing the backfield.
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Why Eric Wilson's Return Feels Riskier Than Vikings Fans Expected
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The problem is that this is not a clean, low-risk reunion. Wilsons age and the up-and-down nature of his past production make the contract harder to shrug off, especially for a Vikings defense already carrying plenty of uncertainty. His role could also complicate the path for younger linebackers, and with Ivan Pace also in the doghouse, Minnesota may be making a bigger long-term gamble than it first appeared. [Read more 🡒]