The Minnesota Vikings are the NFL’s last remaining undefeated team, and they’ll look to move to 7-0 this Sunday with a tough road matchup against their NFC North rival, the Detroit Lions. In their Week 7 win over the Colts, Minnesota welcomed Jordan Mason back from injured reserve, but Aaron Jones Sr. exited early with a knee injury. If Jones misses any time going forward, Mason would get the majority of the work in the backfield and could be a great option to build around for fantasy football in almost all formats.
Let’s look at the latest info on Jones’ injury and status for Week 8 and then examine the value of Mason this week and the rest of the season.
Aaron Jones Sr. injury update
Jones has been playing through an MCL sprain suffered in Week 2 against the Bears. He didn’t miss any time immediately after the injury, but he aggravated that injury in Week 7, leaving the game with 12:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Jones plans to continue playing through the injury and is considered day-to-day, according to coach Kevin O’Connell. Jones was expected to have an MRI on Monday, but the injury is not considered to be significant.
He could still be limited or miss a game or two if the Vikings try to give him more room to recover and get back to full speed. Monitor the team’s practice and injury report this week to see if Jones will be able to play.
Jordan Mason Fantasy Football Outlook
Mason was hyped coming into the season as potentially being lined up for a breakout season, and he had the potential to take over the majority of work in the backfield with Jones moving to primarily a third-down or change-of-pace role. That hasn’t happened yet, though, since Mason landed on IR from Week 2 through Week 6 with a fracture in his thumb that required surgery.
He was activated from IR in the first week that he was eligible to return and was back on the field after the team’s Week 6 bye. In his Week 7 return, he played 64% of snaps and took 15 carries for a solid 68 rushing yards. He didn’t catch either of his two targets, and he hasn’t always been very involved as a receiver.
Neither running back has been very involved as a pass-catcher, as Kyler Murray has focused on Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson. Jones has 13 catches for 72 yards through his six games, but has either zero or one catch in three of those six contests.
Mason only had 14 catches in 16 games last season and doesn’t have a catch yet this season. With a limited role in the passing game, he is touchdown-dependent, but he has run effectively in his limited action this season, averaging 4.2 yards per carry in his 30 opportunities. He did get two targets in his return on Sunday, so there is some potential production as a receiver too if he can convert those targets to catches in more of a full-time role.
The Bottom Line: Jordan Mason is a FLEX play in Week 8, and he improves to RB2 if Jones is out
The Lions gave up a touchdown to Josh Jacobs as a receiver last week and have allowed five running back touchdowns this season. They’ve limited opposing running backs to only 79.7 rushing yards and 25.1 receiving yards per game. It’s not an easy matchup for Mason, but he is an RB3 or FLEX option even if Jones is available, since he should be in line for the majority of the work either way. If Jones is out, the added third-down work gives him an even higher ceiling and makes him a low-end RB2, despite the matchup.
In Week 8, Mason could be an excellent value in DraftKings DFS contests like the NFL $2.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]. His salary is only $5,700, which is very affordable even compared to Jones’ salary of $6,200. Mason would most likely need to get into the end zone to return value, but if he can do that against Detroit, he’ll be a solid play at this price.
