Aaron Jones ($5,200) suffered an AC joint sprain in his shoulder in last week’s win over the Lions and was unable to return to the contest. The running back has been positive about the injury to the media, but Jones missed practice Wednesday and was limited Thursday.
The Minnesota Vikings are facing the Ravens this Sunday, and if Jones is unable to play, Jordan Mason ($6,200) should handle a more featured role for the Vikings. With Jones sidelined for four games earlier this season, Mason produced 15.5 FPTS per game as Minnesota’s starting running back. The 26-year-old averaged 15 carries per game — which was 71% of the running back carries for the Vikings — while logging 66.3% of the snaps. The veteran saw 10 redzone carries during this four-game stretch, and as a receiver, Mason ran a route on 50% of his team’s drobacks, but he only saw a target on 8% of those routes.
While Mason’s lack of targets was discouraging, his role as a rusher was immense sans Jones, and if the latter is out this Sunday, Mason will be in line for 15+ touches vs. Baltimore. The Ravens’ run defense has been strong as of late, giving up the ninth-fewest yards per rush in the NFL over the last three weeks (3.9), but they still have allowed 10 touchdowns to running backs this season, and this matchup between Minnesota and Baltimore carries the third-highest total of Week 10 at 49.5 points on DraftKings Sportsbook.
If Jones is inactive, Mason will have 15-20 FPTS upside in this setting, and he will be a rock-solid RB3/FLEX play for season-long leagues. For DFS, Mason is appropriately priced for a starting role at $6,200 on DraftKings, but he still would have a decent chance to outproduce this salary if Jones is out. Mason would likely come with low ownership in GPPs, with Rico Dowdle at $6,300, soaking up most of the ownership in this price range.
