After missing four straight games with a hamstring injury, Jones ($5,200) made his return this past Thursday vs. the Chargers and in the 27-point blowout loss for the Vikings, Jones only finished with 5.0 FPTS. His backfield mate in Mason ($5,700) struggled even more to make an impact, finishing with just 1.6 FPTS. Jones rushed five times for 15 yards and he caught two of his four targets for 14 yards. Meanwhile, Mason rushed four times for just three yards and he caught his lone target for three yards.
Jones and Mason have now played three games together this season and in these contests, Mason has led the way on the ground, averaging 9.3 carries per game and seeing 58% of the running back carries, while Jones is averaging six carries per game and a 38% rush rate. In terms of redzone rushes, Mason has out carried Jones 3-1.
Conversely, Jones has seen more work in the passing game, with eight targets on 43 routes, while Mason has seen four targets on 27 routes. Overall, in these three games together, Jones is logging 49.8% of the snaps and Mason is logging 45.5% of the snaps.
As you can see, this Minnesota backfield is a clear two-man committee and which back performs better fantasy wise is going to depend on game script. With the Vikings trailing for the majority of last week’s huge loss to Los Angeles, Jones unsurprisingly had the better fantasy performance as the team’s main receiving back.
With Minnesota being an 8.5-point road underdog vs. the Lions this Sunday on DraftKings Sportsbook, Jones is likely to outperform Mason again, but that doesn’t mean it will be a compelling showing, as Detroit is the second-highest graded defense on PFF this season.
