Aaron Jones Answers An Important Kevin O'Connell Question

The Minnesota Vikings signed Aaron Jones for moments like this. Facing second-and-goal from Minnesota’s three-yard line, Jones took the handoff and ran off of the left tackle. Two New York Giants defenders stood in between Jones and the end zone. Instead of stubbornly running straight into them, Jones darted towards the front pylon. He outran both defenders and gave the Vikings a 6-3 lead.

Jones created a play that the Vikings haven’t seen since Kevin O’Connell arrived in 2022. In O’Connell’s first year, Dalvin Cook lacked the consistency and burst he displayed earlier in his career. The Vikings counted on Alexander Mattison to be their bell cow in 2023. However, he lacked any burst, running for only 3.9 yards per carry.

Despite ranking seventh in total offense in 2022, the Vikings ranked 27th in rushing. They ranked 10th in total offense in 2023 but fell to 29th in rushing. That became a more significant issue when Kirk Cousins got injured, and Minnesota had to use three different starting quarterbacks over the season's final nine games.

O’Connell has offered a lot to like over the past two seasons. He has brilliantly gotten Justin Jefferson open when defenses have focused on him and walked Josh Dobbs through every aspect of a play in one of the most improbable wins you’ll ever see. Still, questions remained regarding Minnesota’s run game and whether O’Connell could scheme plays that didn’t involve throwing the ball downfield. Was incapable of orchestrating the run game, or was the personnel keeping him from finding balance in the offense?

In the offseason, the Vikings signed Jones to bolster the run game. The former Green Bay Packers running back has been one of the game’s most dynamic players since entering the league in 2017. He has averaged 5.1 yards per carry over his career while scoring 46 rushing touchdowns.

At age 29, Jones became the driving force behind Green Bay’s late-season push and playoff run last year. After fighting through hamstring and knee injuries throughout the year, Jones ripped off five consecutive 100-yard games to end the season. His performance against the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round of the playoffs had the Packers on the doorstep of an NFC Championship appearance.

Jones gave the Vikings anything they could have hoped for against the Giants. He ran 14 times for 94 yards and the three-yard score. His touchdown was a significant step for a position group that only scored four touchdowns on the ground in 2023. Mattison was the team’s RB1 but never found the end zone.

Digging deeper into Jones’ stats shows how valuable he could be moving forward. According to Next Gen Stats, Jones had 55 expected rushing yards. Because he ran for 94 yards, he had 39 rushing yards over expected (RYOE), a metric that shows how many more or fewer yards a running back rushes for compared to the average back.

Jones used his ability to make defenders miss to generate 39 RYOE. Pro Football Focus (PFF) credited him with four missed tackles forced. Last year, Minnesota’s running backs forced 55 missed tackles as a group, with Mattison accounting for 37 of those over 16 games.

Next Gen Stats stats also clocked Jones hitting 15-plus mph on five runs against the Giants. It’s probably no coincidence that he had five runs of at least 10-plus yards. Mattison ran 15-plus mph 14 times throughout the 2023 season and had only 17 runs of 10-plus yards.

One of the best parts of the performance was that Jones didn’t have to carry the ball often to drive the offense. On top of carrying the ball only 14 times, Jones only took 30 snaps all day. Father Time is undefeated, so limiting the 30-year-old running back’s workload is essential for Minnesota’s long-term offensive success this year.

Although Sam Darnold had a great game on Sunday, they also didn’t ask him to do too much, mainly because the Vikings ran a balanced offense. With tough matchups against the 49ers, Houston Texans, and the Packers, O’Connell will lean on Jones to do what he did on Sunday against the Giants.

The 49ers and Texans would love to force the Vikings into being one-dimensional, making Darnold throw with their ferocious pass rushers pinning their ears back. If Jones can churn out first downs and keep those defenses honest, Minnesota will give Darnold his best chance to succeed.

It was a positive first game in purple for Jones and, hopefully, a sign of things to come. He displayed the traits the team hoped to see and was an essential part of Minnesota’s first three-score victory since 2019, earning a game ball for his efforts. O’Connell would love for that to be the first of many.