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Tyler Forness talks about the dynamics of the Minnesota Vikings' running back room, specifically hitting on the trade for Jordan Mason that was made earlier in the offseason. Here, he talks about something that Kevin O'Connell said earlier this week that sheds some light on a trade that made many scratch their heads.
*The Vikings Had A VERY Interesting Reason For Trading For Jordan Mason...*
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0:00
Kevin O'Connell at the NFL owners meetings revealed something very interesting about why they made a trade for Jordan Mason and has everything to do with Aaron Jones
0:10
Let me explain. Minnesota Vikings, the running back position were such an interesting enigma going into the offseason
0:20
Aaron Jones was the guy that they wanted to retain. But how much do you want to give a guy who's now in his 30s and has been injury prone throughout his career
0:28
We know the Minnesota Vikings have really thrived by signing players who have been injured and keeping them healthy with Jones playing all 17 games, even though he was dinged up a decent part of the year
0:39
Well, can you trust that guy to stay healthy again? No, you probably can't
0:44
But what they found is that you can maximize Aaron Jones in a certain way by giving him a 1B option and having a true timeshare
0:53
Kevin O'Connell is at the NFL owners meetings and talked about it. his first quote talking about Aaron Jones
0:59
Yeah. I think the big thing we learned about Aaron Jones last year is he can be in every down back
1:03
He was a feature part of our offense, but what we wanted to make sure that we were doing is we were using him in a
1:08
way that allowed him to be his most impactful self, which is early down run past game
1:12
He's got third down value. I don't think people give him enough credit for his past protection
1:17
either when we're dropping back or third downs. But when he has historically had that one
1:21
a one B backfield structure, he could be a total game changer. Every time he touches the ball
1:25
So it was always about bringing Aaron back huge leadership role on our team, end quote
1:30
Now, that's a big part of it. Having that second guy to be able to balance him out and to be able to keep him fresh and healthy has been a really big factor in the success of Aaron Jones over the course of the year
1:43
And if you have that guy, it can be a real elevating factor
1:48
First it was Jamal Williams with the Packers then AJ Dillon and they did a good job of spelling Jones enough to keep him fresh and healthy They decided to do that by trading for Jordan Mason And it was interesting because there a deep running back class in the NFL draft
2:01
Why would you make a trade? Well, the trade was basically free. They moved on 27 picks late on day three from 160 to 187
2:08
They gave up a sixth round pick to get Jordan Mason, who is arguably already a top 20 running back in the NFL
2:14
Plus, he's a perfect complement to what Aaron Jones brings. This is what O'Connell had to say right after that Aaron Jones quote
2:20
about Jordan Mason. Jordan Mason was a guy we played against last year
2:25
which was in week two. Really felt him in a zone run scheme
2:28
with kind of gap compliments like the Niners do. We really felt what we were looking for
2:34
was right before our very eyes. A heavy runner, slash runner, tough to tackle
2:39
gets in space, and has bursts and explosion to finish runs. And also a guy that probably doesn't get enough credit
2:44
in his pass protection and just every down versatility. So we really weren't pigeonholed
2:48
into one particular scheme or, you know, in the run-pass phase. But I do think Jordan's going to bring something to the table
2:54
in those short-yardage situations, those goal-line situations, goal to go, where we've really left a lot to be desired as a football team
3:01
And that starts with me to make sure we improve in that area because we certainly have improved personnel-wise
3:07
I think Kwasi would have a better feel for the totality of it, meaning the trade, but I do remember it was not a quick process
3:13
It was something that we were trying to figure out what made sense for both sides, end quote
3:17
And I think that's a common theme with the Minnesota Vikings. They sign players that they've played against
3:22
They played against Javon Hargrave in week two, played against Jordan Mason in week two. They played against Ryan Kelly when they faced the Indianapolis Colts in week nine
3:31
This team has found players that they played against, brought them in, and had a lot of success
3:37
Jordan Mason's the next one. He's going to be a perfect, perfect compliment to what Aaron Jones brings
3:43
And the best part is, it's a really inexpensive deal. I'm Tyler Fornis with A to Z Sports
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