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New York Times
02-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Vikings' sneakiest big move of the offseason? The late-night trade for RB Jordan Mason
The game had just ended, and here Jordan Mason came, weaving through the tunnels toward the San Francisco 49ers' locker room. A massive 'SC Top 10' pendant dangled from his neck. One of the television cameramen filming this walk lobbed a question: 'How does it feel? Week 1, and you got the dub.' 'I feel great, man,' Mason responded. 'I feel blessed. I've been working for this moment.' Advertisement Next to him, a teammate hollered, 'That boy a dog!' The camera panned to future Hall of Fame tackle Trent Williams, who was minutes removed from an on-field interview filled with praise of Mason. Last fall, the third-year running back started the regular-season opener in the place of the injured Christian McCaffrey. Mason posted 147 rushing yards on 'Monday Night Football' against the New York Jets. Williams swore it wasn't a fluke, and the next week validated his opinion. Jordan Mason in his first career start ⬇️ 147 Rushing Yards 5.3 Yards per Rush 3.2 Yards Before Contact per Rush 3.1 Yards After Contact per Rush 1 Rushing TD % of Rushes for 5+ Yards: 50% — The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) September 10, 2024 The 49ers flew to Minnesota and squared off against one of the NFL's best defenses. San Francisco lost that afternoon to the Vikings, but Mason made an impression. He ran for 100 yards on 20 carries, pressing the edge constantly, then hop-stepping his way into cuts in ways that had the Vikings players and staff raving about the performance afterward in the locker room. Who is that dude? Where did he come from? Why hasn't anyone heard of him until now? It's no wonder the Vikings sprang at the opportunity to trade for him in March. Minnesota finalized the move late Saturday night after a whale of a week to open free agency. The team had spent more than $100 million on new players for the trenches, and rightfully, the signings of guard Will Fries, center Ryan Kelly and defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave occupied the headlines (along with the quarterback conversation). The Vikings didn't need to spend meaningful resources on another running back. They had re-signed veteran Aaron Jones, and the NFL Draft class provided plenty of intriguing prospects. If Mason, then a restricted free agent, had not surfaced as a possible option, the Vikings would've likely prioritized a late-round running back. His availability intrigued Minnesota's brass for reasons beyond his performance in Week 2. Advertisement First, there are the advanced statistics. Next Gen Stats developed a metric using player-tracking data to assess the degree to which running backs generate more yards than expected. In 2024, Derrick Henry ranked first, followed by Saquon Barkley. Who trailed them at No. 3? Mason. He forced missed tackles at a rate comparable to Henry. His rushing yards after contact reside among the league's best. Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has said that running back production is about as difficult to parse as at any position. The ground game hinges on offensive line success. Scheme and run-game design are integral, too. However, Mason checks all the data boxes to determine the future impact. Then there's everything else — the answers to these questions: Who is that dude? Where'd he come from? Why hasn't anyone heard of him until now? It seems impossible these days, but some talent still slips through the cracks. Maybe evaluators are too focused on speed over feel. Maybe coaches rely too heavily on prospect camps. Mason grew up in the heart of the South, about 30 minutes north of Nashville. Yet for a time, the only Division I college offer he received came from the University of Texas-San Antonio. Andy McCollum, who in the late 2010s recruited small-town Tennessee high schools for Georgia Tech, couldn't understand. He pulled Mason out of a cooking class at Gallatin High. Mason 'yes, sir'-ed his way through questions in the hallway. Teachers later confirmed that the well-mannered youngster was a solid student in addition to his exceptional football abilities. McCollum relayed the report to then-Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson, who peppered him. 'Who else is recruiting him?' Johnson asked McCollum. 'Well, nobody.' 'Why not? What's wrong with him?' 'Nothing.' Johnson almost grunted, not satisfied with the responses. It wasn't enough that Mason ran for 2,050 yards and 23 touchdowns as a high school senior despite defenses putting nine defenders in the box against him. It wasn't enough that the only player to beat him out for Mr. Football was a rangy receiver named Tee Higgins. It wasn't enough to hear stories about Mason running for more than 200 yards while sniffling between plays with the flu during one game for Gallatin, then visiting an urgent care afterward to receive an IV. Advertisement It wasn't even enough after McCollum convinced Johnson to sign Mason. First, Georgia Tech recruited Dontae Smith, then it coveted Jamious Griffin. As if those two weren't acceptable, even as Mason ran for 899 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry as a sophomore, the Yellow Jackets went after another running back, Jahmyr Gibbs. Indeed, even current Georgia Tech coach Brent Key considers it close to embarrassing that a team with Mason and Gibbs in the backfield finished 3-9. 'Them two jokers together were unbelievable,' said Tashard Choice, then Georgia Tech's running backs coach. As the 2022 draft approached, Key, Choice and others begged NFL coaches and scouts to take a chance on Mason. Go back and watch a Thursday night game from early in Mason's career, they'd say. It was fourth-and-2. Georgia Tech had called a timeout. Amid a huddle near the sideline, Mason urged the coaches: 'Give me the ball.' He took an up-the-middle carry that initially looked stonewalled, but Mason churned his feet and somehow wiggled his way across the first-down marker. Go back and watch a Duke game from later in Mason's career, they'd say. Mason noticed a linebacker creeping toward the line of scrimmage. He shouldered pass-protection responsibilities for the play, and in practice, coaches challenged the running backs to wave at the blitzers pre-snap as a display of confidence. So Mason did it. The linebacker nodded. They collided in the 'A' gap, Mason flattened him, and they dapped up after the play. Coaches like Key and Choice raved about Mason's vision and processing. The only way to describe it was to think of a putt-putt course with a windmill. The putter has to hit the ball at the perfect time for it not to get sideswiped, just as the running back has to hit the hole while defenders float toward him like a tidal wave. The best backs don't just see the hole, but they cut and climb at the precisely correct times. Mason had a knack for this, they said. Yet nobody in the NFL seemed to care. They asked about his 40-yard dash time. It maddened Choice, who at least took solace in the fact that Mason landed at arguably the best place an undrafted running back could land. Mason played sparingly in his first couple of seasons, but eventually McCaffrey dubbed him 'Mariano Rivera,' the 49er whose sheer presence meant the victory had been secured. Advertisement Last year's opportunity, combined with growth that both Mason and legendary 49ers running backs coach Bobby Turner talked about at length, caught the attention of teams like the Vikings. They viewed the exchange of a fifth-round pick for a 26-year-old with minimal tread on the tires as a no-brainer. Still, the deal was overshadowed by everything else the Vikings had done. Even now, the focus is elsewhere, but Mason couldn't care less. He knows it won't be long before he's ripping through another defense. It won't be long until his team's most accomplished players are left to do the talking for him afterward, hollering some iteration of what those who get to watch him daily always come to believe: That boy a dog!
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why Jordan Mason's early ADP is too low
Yahoo Fantasy analysts Matt Harmon and Andy Behrens explain why the Minnesota Vikings' new running back's draft position should rise closer to the season. Hear the full conversation on the 'Yahoo Fantasy Forecast' podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript Consensus ranking right now is 37, which is actually higher uh than when I wrote the article when he was running back 40. Advertisement Um, that's a, it's a big gap between him and Aaron Jones at running back 22. And look, I think like Jones should be ranked higher, but I wonder if that gap needs to be tighter, Andy, because like Jordan Mason last year, weeks 1 to 7, was second in the NFL and rushing yards behind only Derrick Henry. And I think when you look at why they went out to get Jordan Mason. Uh, the Minnesota Vikings did because this has been a very zone heavy run game. It's been kind of a one note rushing game, uh, under Kevin O'Connell's tenure there. And it started off pretty well with Aaron Jones last year, but then of course it faded with injuries. Advertisement And you look what they did in the offseason, they added a bunch of beef. Ryan Kelly, Will Fries, Donovan Jackson, fixed the interior that. Offensive line and Jordan Mason last year at 5.95 yards per carry on gap scheme runs. I kind of think Jordan Mason might be key to the what seems like the desired evolution of the run game here in Minnesota. So, again, he's somebody that depending on like training camp usage and stuff like that, I could certainly see coming up from his current consensus rank. Yeah, this is one where I think you've just kind of exposed a problem in the ranks, uh, and, and he's, he's, he's a near lock to come up, um, because people are going to remember that Jordan Mason for like a month and a half was, was the absolute right answer in fantasy, and you were, you know, until he, until the point that his injury hit, um, like he, he was a weak winner for you and and he was somebody who was going to be able to ride a great situation. Advertisement And pretty significant talent to to an absolutely huge season, like he was gonna cruise to, I don't know, 1300 rushing yards, something like that. He looked awesome. Um, and there were, there were more touchdowns ahead for him as well. So like he looked great in in there should absolutely not be whatever the whatever the gap is in the ranks between Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason is right now. It it shouldn't be like that. Like Aaron Jones is a very valuable player and he's one of the best like. It's like a, like a legit route running, kind of, kind of running back too. I think he's a really gifted receiver and we're gonna, we're gonna see that role for him throughout the year. Advertisement But man, Jordan Mason is a really good compliment and there's no way that Jordan Mason is, is simply viewed as a straight backup, right, or somebody that they're only going to give 68 touches to. Jordan Mason's really good. He proved it. Um, and he should probably be, I don't know, for 40% of the snaps and a whole bunch of touches, um, so yeah, I, I think this one gets corrected as the, as the draft season moves along.
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
3 Late Round Running Backs To Draft In 2025 Fantasy Football
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 10: Jordan Mason #24 of the San Francisco 49ers carries the ball ... More against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on October 10, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by) With the summer fast approaching, we're getting close to the 2025 fantasy football season. Today, we're going to look at three running backs who would be great late round targets for your 2025 fantasy football drafts. You can either use this information to draft best ball teams right away or just to get familiar with some of these outlooks. Two of the players on this list are rookies and one of them was traded this past year. The ADP we'll be using is from Underdog Fantasy, which uses a half-PPR format. That said, there's plenty of analysis to be done, so let's dive right into it. Jordan Mason had his breakout year with the San Francisco 49ers when Christian McCaffrey went down in 2024. With McCaffrey going down, Mason saw his previous career high in carries (43) increased dramatically to 153. With those touches, Mason was able to run for 789 yards on 5.2 YPC. This kind of production gave Mason three games above 15 points last season. It's worth noting that the Minnesota Vikings went out of their way to trade for Mason, showing that they clearly value him in the offense. While Aaron Jones is still on the team and he had a great 2024 season, at 30 years old, there's a risk of injury. Expect Mason to be used to help conserve Jones while also having upside to have spike weeks if Jones goes down. It wouldn't surprise me if Jaydon Blue was the outright starter for the Dallas Cowboys in 2025. With Rico Dowdle out the door, the Cowboys running back room is wide open. Although many speculated the Dallas Cowboys would draft a running back early in the draft, Blue was the first running back they selected and that was in round five. Although Blue didn't put up great numbers in college, he showed great flashes on film. The only players that Blue has to compete with right now are Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders. Williams was a great prospect coming out of college, but after suffering a torn ACL and LCL tear, he hasn't had more than 3.8 YPC since 2023. Sanders is 28 years old and has struggled heavily since leaving the Philadelphia Eagles. In the last two seasons, Sanders hasn't had more than 3.8 YPC as well. The Cowboys are typically a good offense who give their players more opportunity by running 64.9 plays per game. Getting the starting running back in that offense is great value as the RB40. PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY - NOVEMBER 23: Kyle Monangai #5 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights runs with the ... More ball while Alex Bray #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini looks to tackle him during the second half at SHI Stadium on November 23, 2024 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by) Staying on the trend of rookies, Kyle Monangai is a deep sleeper. Monangai isn't even going to be drafted in most leagues, so you should be able to get him as your last pick in ESPN or Yahoo leagues. Monangai was a 7th round draft pick for the Chicago Bears, but he's in a similar situation to Blue. D'Andre Swift was extremely inefficient last year with 3.8 YPC and many speculated that the Bears would take a running back early. Monangai ended up being the only running back they selected. Monangai has an easy path to take over the Bears backfield, and they project to be a great offense. With Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, DJ Moore, Luther Burden, Colston Loveland and quite a few offensive line additions, the Bears should be scoring a ton of points next year. Although Monangai wasn't drafted very early in the NFL and doesn't have a super high ceiling, he's a bruiser. On tape, it's clear that Monangai runs defenders over, and that was shown by his 1,279-yard rushing season at Rutgers. With how late you're able to draft Monangai, he should be a target for 2025 fantasy football.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
49ers McCaffrey 'Storms Back' in Misleading Prediction
For as great as San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is, a glaring blemish on his reputation is continuing to show. He is only as great as his availability allows him to be. This unfortunate reality was a defining asterisk on McCaffrey's tenure with the Carolina Panthers. After two All-Pro selections in his first two NFL seasons, "CMC" was then sidelined with injury for practically two full years. Advertisement His first return to a full season of games? A Pro Bowl. However, he was shipped to San Francisco midway through the schedule. His first full year with the 49ers proved to be another healthy one in 2023. It turned out to be his best season yet with an Offensive Player of the Year award to show for it. But in 2024, it was once again a rarity to see McCaffrey at full strength - if we even saw that at all last season. Heading into 2025, CBS hasn't seemed to consider these trends and expects McCaffrey, at the age of 30, to "storm back from injury". We should tread carefully here because the explanation doesn't ooze much optimism. Advertisement "'CMC' was one of two things with the Carolina Panthers to open his career: All-Pro-caliber or injured," writes Cody Benjamin. "The trend finally returned in San Francisco in 2024, when the multipurpose star followed up an Offensive Player of the Year campaign by missing 13 games with Achilles tendinitis. "Approaching 30, he's hardly a safe bet to sustain a heavy workload, and his top backup, Jordan Mason, is no longer in town for relief. Still, the rest of the 49ers getting healthy should help ease him back into a starring role for Kyle Shanahan." If a "storm back" season means a less-heavy workload and easing back into stardom ... the standards have been set very low for this season. This isn't to say it's impossible, but there are simply too many concerning factors in play to expect a remarkable bounce-back year from McCaffrey. Advertisement On the bright side? CMC is attack this rehab head on and has confirmed his participation in offseason programs. "I'm feeling great," McCaffrey said last month. "It's been such a smooth process, a lot of hard work. As soon as that injury happened in Buffalo, I was kind of—this was my goal, to not miss a day of OTAs, be back, ready to go, with nothing hindering me, and that's where I'm at." Related: 49ers Winners of Brock Purdy Extension Related: Niners Face Ridiculously Easy Schedule in 2025
NBC Sports
08-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Who will win 2025 NFL Offensive Player of Year?
The FFHH crew predicts who will win the 2025 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award, declaring that Christian McCaffrey has a great shot if he stays healthy, especially since the 49ers traded Jordan Mason to the Vikings.
