EAGAN, Minn. — Players kept referencing "J.P." as a wonderful addition to the team.

It was training camp and many Vikings — veterans, rookies, starters, backups — were flashing. And so this stumped writer tried solving the mystery initials that were bottling up great praise from teammates.

Alas, nothing checked out. But the probability of multiple players experiencing a Freudian slip was low!

Persistence in scouring the roster eventually led to No. 27, RB Jordan Mason.

Turns out, J.P. is shorthand for Jordan Ponchez (Mason's middle name), who arrived last spring after three seasons of spot work behind 49ers star Christian McCaffrey. In 2024, Mason inserted as a starter in half of the 12 games he played, including in a Week 2 clash with the Vikings that acted as a job interview.

In a losing effort, Mason got skinny through holes, plowed past arm tackles, danced around defenders and scored a touchdown while rushing for 100 yards. His impression incited an exchange — scarlet for purple — and coupled him with Vikings returning starter Aaron Jones, Sr., for an imaginative 2025 plan.

There was no hiding the aim of Minnesota's offseason last year. Immense resources were poured into revamping the offensive line. Acquiring Mason cost a 2026 sixth-round pick. With J.J. McCarthy entering his first season starting, the Vikings intended to construct an offense that could support him via the run.

Mason on occasion starred like he did in Niners garb, and Jones ran hard as he does, but neither experienced the peaks envisioned by the club and hung around in the valley of a unit riddled by injuries and rotating lineups. Overall, Minnesota's run rate of 43.0% ranked 19^th in the NFL — a tiny decline from 2024 (43.4%; 17^th) but leaps and bounds more balanced than 2023 (36.7%; 30^th) and 2022 (36.0%, 30^th).

The expected workhorses Mason, who tallied a career-high 159 carries as well as six rushing touchdowns, and Jones shouldered the load and received aid from backfield mates Zavier Scott, Ty Chandler, Cam Akers and C.J. Ham; that foursome rushed for 185 yards and a couple touchdowns.

Notes: Scott, a 26-year-old former college receiver, scored his first career TD on a 16-yard pass from Carson Wentz in Ireland. Chandler, a 2022 fifth-rounder, suffered a knee injury on a kickoff in Week 1 (he gutted out the rest of the game) and he didn't return until Week 17, diminishing his impact in a contract year. Akers was signed in mid-September and released in late November. And Ham was celebrated by fans and had his number called for a TD in his potential final game Jan. 4, to go along with one at Dallas.

Notable Numbers

0 — Rushes by Jones or Mason reaching 20-plus mph. According to Next Gen Stats, 16 different NFL ball carriers clocked that speed on multiple attempts, and 32 achieved it at least once. Jones recorded one such run in 2024 (none from 2021-23) and maxed out with two apiece in 2019-20. Mason has just one in his first four seasons. This stat helps illustrate top-end speed, although it's also dictated by opportunities.

2.8 — Yards after contact per carry for Jones, who missed five games because of injuries and played through pain in several more. Only one qualified running back out of 48, Tampa Bay's Bucky Irving, averaged fewer (2.4). It represented a new career worst for Jones; his previous low was 3.0 as a rookie.

5 — Players who individually outrushed the Jones-Mason combo (1,306 yards). James Cook ran for 1,621, Derrick Henry 1,595, Jonathan Taylor 1,585, Bijan Robinson 1,478 and De'Von Achane had 1,350.

42.4 — Minnesota's rushing success rate, as calculated by NGS, good for the team's best in four seasons under O'Connell. It ranked 12^th relative to the rest of the league and is the organization's top percentage since 2020 (48.1). NGS defines rushing success rate as carries resulting in positive EPA (expected points added) — basically, runs that keep an offense on schedule. Pro-football-reference.com uses a slightly different formula for rushing success percentage, measuring it by whether runs gain at least 40 percent of the needed yards on first down, 60 percent on second and 100 percent on third or fourth downs. Under those terms, Minnesota's rushing success (including runs by other players) landed at 50.2 percent.

Regular-season Rushing Statistics, Vikings RBs/FB

Regular-season Receiving Statistics, Vikings RBs/FB

The Brightest Spot

As a 1-2 punch, Jones and Mason never really established themselves.

Due to injuries, one played without the other in six different games, which hurt the cause. Overall, the tandem crossed the century mark together just three times (Week 9 at Detroit, Week 11 against Chicago and Week 14 against Washington) and they produced 14 total rushes of 15-plus yards (Mason had nine).

For context of the running backs' struggles, other offensive players recorded seven carries at least that long; McCarthy manufactured three, Jordan Addison two, and Jalen Nailor and Wentz each posted one.

Accordingly, it's not a cinch to select a bright spot for the combined backfield, so instead we will recall what were perhaps their most memorable individual efforts — Mason in Week 3 and Jones in Week 16.

In his third game as a Viking, and after rushing for 98 yards on 24 attempts (4.1 avg.) over his first two appearances, Mason looked great in his first of four consecutive starts. With Jones shelved by a hamstring injury, his counterpart turned 16 carries vs. Cincinnati into 116 yards (7.3 avg.) and two TDs.

It was good for the lone 100-yard rushing game by a Vikings RB in 2025, and it showed off the blend of burst and pad-popping that inspired Minnesota to make a deal with San Francisco for Mason last March.

Similarly, Jones was the focal runner Dec. 21, returning mid-game from an ankle injury, after Mason sustained his own injury and was forced out of the lineup early at MetLife Stadium versus the Giants. In response, and to offset McCarthy's absence in the second half, Jones grinded out 21 carries for 85 yards.

None was more impactful than the handoff he accepted from backup QB Max Brosmer on third-and-8 with 1:49 remaining in the game. Minnesota was in no-man's land, clinging to a 16-13 lead at New York's 37, and Jones charged into a gap right in the teeth of the defense. He stayed balanced and picked up 9.

The Lowest Moment

Thirty-four rushing yards on Thursday Night Football in the Chargers house is a candidate. As is the disappearing act pulled by the ground game in Week 2, which left McCarthy out to dry against Atlanta.

The disappointment of all disappointments related to the run, however, resides in Seattle and a forgettable first half that doomed Brosmer, who was making his first career start in one of the NFL's unfriendliest visiting atmospheres. The shutout on the scoreboard matched a lackluster performance.

And we're not talking about Brosmer's 96 net passing yards and four interceptions.

Ideally, a reliable run game would have softened the Seahawks defense and settled Brosmer into a flow state. The Vikings never achieved that, rushing seven times for 10 yards through the first two quarters.

Because the offense was so inefficient between the tackles, O'Connell opted for one of his riskier play calls of the season on a fourth-and-1 at Seattle's 4. Dealing with a 3-0 deficit and about three minutes to go until halftime, Brosmer kept the ball on a naked bootleg after faking a handoff to Ham. The decision to pass instead of run urged Brosmer to convert at all costs, and he underhanded a pick six under duress.

Minnesota squeaked out a few good runs toward the end of the game to finish with 66 yards rushing. The offensive log after three frames, however, was ghastly: 10 attempts for 10 yards and a long run of 4.

2 Pressing Questions for 2026

1. How will the Vikings value Jones' body of work?

There are two elements at play in the case of Jones and whether he is leaned on in 2026, like he's experienced over two seasons (29 games): his multifaceted on-field production and his off-field impact.

Starting with the latter, Jones' locker-room influence is impressive. He leads with a smile and a handshake. His positive outlook drowns out negativity, and his determination to fight through nicks and bruises, sometimes significant ones, and show up for his teammates and coaches is second to none.

Jones is very much a Hall of Fame-level human (his career numbers ain't bad, either), and there's no doubt that with a "C" on his chest, the Vikings leadership and infrastructure took another step forward.

With that top of mind — and tough to accurately quantify — objective eyes are required to assess his latest play in three categories: rushing, receiving and pass protection. Jones mostly was elite doing each from 2017-24. But in Year 9, durability and elusiveness contributed to a career-low 4.2 yards per carry.

For what it's worth: Jones forced 12 missed tackles on 132 rushes, according to Pro Football Focus, and he broke five per Pro Football Reference. Those tallies were tied for 57^th and tied for 54^th at his position.

2. What does Ham's probable retirement mean for the makeup of the backfield?

Minnesota rolled out 21 personnel (two backs, one tight end) at the eighth-highest rate in 2025.

The Vikings used it on 7.8% of their plays (h/t SumerSports), so not a ton — but more than 24 other clubs. Ham was instrumental to those packages, as well as 22-personnel groupings (3.8%; ninth-highest).

Therefore, it's smart to wonder if Minnesota tweaks its approach, seeks a replacement for the two-time Pro Bowl fullback or focuses on developing someone else on the roster to step into the role Ham played.

It's worth mentioning a range of positions and body types can be converted. Ham played running back in college, and Patrick Ricard of the Ravens and Scott Matlock of the Chargers initially played defensive line.

A little creativity could unearth a hammer; there are several youngsters on the roster with muddled paths to snaps if the Vikings opted to slide some fullback reps to a player rostered at another position.

If Week 18 was indeed the sendoff of Ham's last hurrah, his professionalism and impact will be missed.