I was surprised when the 49ers placed a second-round tender on Jordan Mason, locking him in for at least $5.3 million for the upcoming season. But now we know. They’ve sent him off the Vikings, and with not much coming back in return – just a switch of later-round picks.
Mason was effective last year. After five weeks, he was 2nd-leading rusher in the league, trailing on Derrick Henry. Then he got injured, and the 49ers got Christian McCaffrey back for some games.
| LEADING RUSHERS AFTER FIRST FIVE WEEKS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| Derrick Henry, Balt. | 5 | 95 | 572 | 6.0 | 6 |
| • Jordan Mason, S.F. | 5 | 105 | 536 | 5.1 | 3 |
| Saquon Barkley, Phi. | 4 | 73 | 435 | 6.0 | 4 |
| Josh Jacobs, G.B. | 5 | 90 | 402 | 4.5 | 1 |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | 5 | 68 | 393 | 5.8 | 2 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 5 | 91 | 388 | 4.3 | 5 |
| James Conner, Ari. | 5 | 83 | 379 | 4.6 | 3 |
| Lamar Jackson, Bal. | 5 | 53 | 363 | 6.8 | 2 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 5 | 95 | 360 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 5 | 77 | 356 | 4.6 | 3 |
| Aaron Jones, Min. | 5 | 71 | 350 | 4.9 | 1 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 4 | 72 | 349 | 4.8 | 4 |
| J.K. Dobbins, LAC | 4 | 56 | 342 | 6.1 | 2 |
| Brian Robinson, Was. | 5 | 73 | 325 | 4.5 | 5 |
| James Cook, Buff. | 5 | 70 | 309 | 4.4 | 4 |
| Jayden Daniels, Was. | 5 | 57 | 300 | 5.3 | 4 |
But paying $5.3 for a backup running back wasn’t a good fit for the 49ers. They’ve got McCaffrey coming back, and they’ve got Isaac Guerendo on a cost-controlled rookie contract for two more years. Guerendo is raw but looks like he might develop into something.
So Mason is a better match with the Vikings, where Aaron Jones is the starter but is an older back who’s had some injuries. Mason will get some change-of-pace carries, and I imagine he’ll be starting some games at some point. The Vikings signed him to a two-year extension worth $10.5 million.
To get Mason, the Vikings gave up only a sixth-round pick, while also agreeing to move down from pick 160 to pick 187.
But I am not a big fan of Mason’s value as a fantasy asset. He’s not much of a pass catcher (11 catches in 11 games last year), putting him on the uphill track in PPR formats. And the Vikings aren’t a great running team.
Kevin O’Connell has been coaching in Minnesota for three years, and he’s a cutting edge guy in terms of drawing up a passing game. But he’s never had much interest in running the ball. He’s been there for three years, with the Vikings making the playoffs in two of them, but they’ve ranked only 27th, 29th and 19th in rushing in those seasons.
On O’Connell’s watch, only four teams have called fewer running plays, and only five teams have run for fewer yards. Only three teams have averaged fewer yards per carry.
After three years, O’Connell’s teams are averaging 99 rushing yards, with 34 TD runs in 51 games.
| TEAM RUSHING (last 3 years) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Yds/G | Yd/Att | TDR | Pts/G |
| Philadelphia | 151.9 | 4.63 | 83 | 25.0 |
| Baltimore | 168.0 | 5.29 | 61 | 24.0 |
| Detroit | 136.8 | 4.61 | 79 | 23.0 |
| Buffalo | 133.5 | 4.66 | 69 | 21.6 |
| San Francisco | 135.5 | 4.73 | 64 | 21.1 |
| Atlanta | 139.1 | 4.50 | 49 | 19.7 |
| Chicago | 140.1 | 4.69 | 47 | 19.5 |
| Arizona | 131.2 | 4.89 | 50 | 19.0 |
| Washington | 124.6 | 4.47 | 48 | 18.1 |
| Green Bay | 127.7 | 4.58 | 45 | 18.1 |
| Indianapolis | 122.7 | 4.42 | 47 | 17.8 |
| Pittsburgh | 122.5 | 4.11 | 46 | 17.7 |
| Miami | 113.5 | 4.47 | 51 | 17.4 |
| NY Giants | 121.1 | 4.42 | 44 | 17.3 |
| Cleveland | 119.9 | 4.24 | 42 | 16.9 |
| Dallas | 116.1 | 4.15 | 44 | 16.8 |
| Tennessee | 114.4 | 4.22 | 43 | 16.5 |
| LA Rams | 107.3 | 4.09 | 48 | 16.4 |
| Carolina | 114.8 | 4.38 | 41 | 16.3 |
| Jacksonville | 107.7 | 4.18 | 46 | 16.2 |
| New Orleans | 111.3 | 4.09 | 40 | 15.8 |
| Kansas City | 108.7 | 4.32 | 42 | 15.8 |
| Seattle | 102.9 | 4.41 | 40 | 15.0 |
| LA Chargers | 99.0 | 3.89 | 43 | 15.0 |
| Denver | 110.8 | 4.17 | 31 | 14.7 |
| New England | 106.0 | 4.21 | 32 | 14.4 |
| Minnesota | 99.4 | 4.04 | 34 | 13.9 |
| Tampa Bay | 105.0 | 4.09 | 29 | 13.9 |
| Cincinnati | 92.6 | 3.98 | 37 | 13.7 |
| Houston | 98.7 | 3.94 | 32 | 13.6 |
| Las Vegas | 97.2 | 4.06 | 33 | 13.6 |
| NY Jets | 96.0 | 4.23 | 28 | 12.9 |
—Ian Allan