As Week 1 rapidly approaches, the Minnesota Vikings find themselves in a bit of a pickle regarding wide receiver depth after Jalen Nailor’s injury and Jordan Addison’s three-game suspension. An overall lackluster camp and preseason from rookie Tai Felton and returning practice squad member Lucky Jackson didn’t help quiet the noise, either.
It feels inevitable that the Vikings will add a receiver. Still, we could be ignoring the real X factor that can make this offense hum immediately.
Adding Jordan Mason creates more efficiency around the goal line and in short-yardage situations, effectively assuring that the Vikings have built their offense around the run. We could be looking at much more of a 1A-1B situation with Aaron Jones Sr. than we previously thought.
The reason for this stems from what Mason does so well within inside- and outside-zone running patterns, which interior additions Ryan Kelly, Will Fries, and Donovan Jackson should boost.
1. Jordan Mason
Current Sleeper ADP: 103.4
– Coach speak suggests 1B role
– Goal line work hinted at
– Aaron Jones always misses time
– 37% missed tackles forced rate
– Great o-line and defense
– Huge upside if Jones gets injuredpic.twitter.com/HojNKlV1kp
— All Goats FF 🏈 (@AllGoatsFF) August 21, 2025
Mason has a knack for falling forward and getting upfield. He doesn’t mince his movements laterally and makes his money by using the hips of guards and tackles who can seal and pull. That patient but explosive type of running behind this revamped interior offensive line will pay dividends when it comes to big gains. The Vikings only had four rushes last season that exceeded 30 yards. Look for that number to increase with Mason.
Creating explosive plays in the run game will lighten the load on McCarthy, a game plan that the coaching staff definitely had in mind. It’s a passing league, but a good running game leads to chunk yardage on passing plays. Running game production forces defenses to be honest, creating more looks against man coverage, allowing teams to capitalize on establishing the run. It’s old school football.
When this run blocking unit/scheme gets going it's really difficult to stop.
Colts are running Wham vs. this adjusted Over front where the left nose tackle is playing head up as opposed to shaded toward the A gap.
Wham Rules:
Braden Smith takes Crosby
Will Fries and Kelly Ace… pic.twitter.com/5vySDPQunm
— Colts Film Room (@ColtsFilmRoom) January 2, 2024
The clip above is an excellent example of how to use Mason best. During his time with the Indianapolis Colts, Fries helped this wham concept immediately see daylight for the runner.
Fries can stonewall defensive linemen, and Jordan Mason has the type of vision you can’t teach. It’s worth mentioning that Josh Oliver is one of the better blocking tight ends the league has to offer, and he would presumably come in to take out the nose tackle like Mo Ali Cox does in this clip.
JJ McCarthy screen to Aaron Jones and my goodness watch Donovan Jackson blocking pic.twitter.com/xNCsOk7SFZ
— Sean Borman (@SeanBormanNFL) August 13, 2025
I expect Mason to be as involved in the screen game as Jones. There’s been a bit of a negative narrative around Kevin O’Connell’s ability to call effective screen patterns because we’ve seen our fair share of plays that result in negative yards in the screen game.
However, this could be the year he gets it right with two running backs who are talented in the open field. Not to mention, it’s yet another aspect of the offense that will simplify McCarthy’s workload. If rookie Donovan Jackson can keep pace to get upfield with them through the season, we could be in for a lot more clips as fun as this one was from Minnesota’s joint practices with the New England Patriots.
Little screen to Jordan Mason pic.twitter.com/mYNbFN0LCm
— Jason Harmon (@_jason_777) August 6, 2025
Having Justin Jefferson, the best receiver in football, on the Vikings is always beneficial when it comes to finding someone to run an offense through. We know Jefferson will produce at a high level, but getting him there in the first half of the season when the rest of the receiving corps is somewhat depleted starts with this rushing attack.
Jordan Mason is bringing elements to the offense that have been absent since the prime days of Dalvin Cook. Look for Aaron Jones Sr. and Jordan Mason to be the main storyline on offense when the season gets going.