The Minnesota Vikings opened their season with a strong win and are looking ahead to a Week 2 matchup against a soft Chicago Bears defense. In a surprising development, Jordan Mason will now hit IR for the next four weeks, leaving Aaron Jones as the primary running back. The veteran hasn’t been his old self for some time now, but he could find himself positioned for a resurgence depending on how this backfield shakes out.
With Jordan Mason injured, how valuable does Aaron Jones become in fantasy football?
Aaron Jones fantasy outlook
It was only a few years ago that Aaron Jones was dominating defenses as a fantasy football star. He was as steady an RB2 as you could find, even averaging 14.2 FPPG back in 2024 during his first season with the Vikings after a long stint with the Green Bay Packers. Now approaching his 32nd birthday in December, he’s not quite the same player he used to be, but he still has some value in PPR formats thanks to his receiving usage.
Jones ceded lead-back duties to Jordan Mason last year and again played second fiddle as a runner in Week 1 of the new campaign. The younger running back saw a team-high 15 rush attempts to start the season, but Jones handled 12 carries of his own and saw a target in the receiving game as well. With that opportunity, he put up 40 yards and a score, tallying 10.0 PPR points. It wasn’t a great performance, but it was far from a bad one.
With Mason now sidelined for at least four weeks with a thumb fracture, Jones should step in as a clear top option in the backfield ahead of rookie Demond Claiborne, who was a sixth-round pick back in April. There’s reason to believe that Jones should see pretty significant volume for now, especially in light of the quarterback situation, too. Kyler Murray was Minnesota’s starter in Week 1 but suffered a concussion just a few plays into the game, quickly being replaced by veteran Carson Wentz. The backup isn’t mobile like Murray is, and it wouldn’t at all be shocking if the Vikings look to insulate Wentz by leaning on the ground game in Week 2.
Now, will Jones handle a massive workload like a true bell-cow back moving forward without Mason around? That outcome seems unlikely for the most part – he’s 31 years old and on the tail end of his career, it’s a long season, and the Vikings will likely want to see what Claiborne can do with the new opportunity. However, what does seem possible is an uptick in snap share for Jones, who out-snapped Mason 30-29 in Week 1 and should see a greater disparity between his own count and that of whoever else appears in the backfield. A snap share around 60% does feel like a real possibility, with the majority of third-down work still going his way.
As an added bonus, Jones actually tied with Mason in red-zone opportunities in the season opener. Both backs handled four carries inside the 20-yard line, so the veteran runner should remain quite involved in high-value areas of the field. That could prove massive in Week 2, particularly. Here are a couple of snippets from an article earlier in the week that was written about Mason’s outlook prior to his injury:
“The matchup in Week 2 is a tasty one, too. The Vikings are on the road, but they get a date against an NFC North rival as they face the Chicago Bears, who were one of the NFL’s worst teams against the run in 2025. Last year, the Bears ranked 27th in rushing yards allowed and 26th in defensive EPA/rush. In Week 1, they also gave up 125 rushing yards on 22 total attempts, an average of 5.68 yards per carry.
The Bears’ defense just allowed 37 points and 478 yards of offense to a Carolina Panthers offense that’s not quite as good as this Minnesota unit, so it’s possible there should be plenty of scoring chances on Sunday.”
Looking at the immediate future, the setup for Jones to produce RB2-caliber numbers in fantasy appears nearly perfect in Week 2. He’ll get the lion’s share of the work with a third-down role against a very vulnerable defense, so he’s a player to start with confidence as your second running back or a FLEX option.
Looking further out, Minnesota has matchups against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints through Week 5. With Mason sidelined until Week 6 at the soonest, the schedule also aligns nicely for Jones to be quite valuable over the next few games – just don’t count on him being a starter for you much longer down the line once his teammate returns from injury.
