Who's the next great RB to pair with McCarthy?

[medaille]

I wanted a RB in this year's draft. And not taking one makes taking one next year a must, a near can't-miss proposition. I would also say the running "game" is what's important, and the running backs are only part of that. Sure, you'd love to have an AD, or a Barkley or a McCaffrey, but as Jim Harbaugh likes to say, the OL is the tip of the spear. Based on the Vikings IOL rebuild and their failure to add a back to what is a pretty thin group, the Vikings may feel the same way.

How is it a thin RB group?  I get that it’s not elite like the Lions or anything, where they have a 1A and a 1B, but not many teams have a 3rd RB that anyone remembers their name.

[MaroonBells]

How is it a thin RB group?  I get that it’s not elite like the Lions or anything, where they have a 1A and a 1B, but not many teams have a 3rd RB that anyone remembers their name.

Oh c'mon, do we really have to go through this again? Remember when we signed Aaron Jones to a 1-year deal? Most of us thought OK, good back, but 29 years old and injury prone. 1 fully healthy season in 7. Good thing it's only one year. Fast forward a year, and because Jones got through the year healthy, many seem to have forgotten who he is. He's 30 now, 31 before the playoffs begin. If he can avoid arthritis and dementia, we're one hammy away from Ty Chandler getting 40% of the snaps. And unless he went to pass blocking school in the offseason, he's a liability there. The last thing we need is him blowing a block that injures our franchise QB.

[JustInTime]

Oh c'mon, do we really have to go through this again? Remember when we signed Aaron Jones to a 1-year deal? Most of us thought OK, good back, but 29 years old and injury prone. 1 fully healthy season in 7. Good thing it's only one year. Fast forward a year, and because Jones got through the year healthy, many seem to have forgotten who he is. He's 30 now, 31 before the playoffs begin. If he can avoid arthritis and dementia, we're one hammy away from Ty Chandler getting 40% of the snaps. And unless he went to pass blocking school in the offseason, he's a liability there. The last thing we need is him blowing a block that injures our franchise QB.

This is getting to be a king has no clothes deal.

[medaille]

Oh c'mon, do we really have to go through this again? Remember when we signed Aaron Jones to a 1-year deal? Most of us thought OK, good back, but 29 years old and injury prone. 1 fully healthy season in 7. Good thing it's only one year. Fast forward a year, and because Jones got through the year healthy, many seem to have forgotten who he is. He's 30 now, 31 before the playoffs begin. If he can avoid arthritis and dementia, we're one hammy away from Ty Chandler getting 40% of the snaps. And unless he went to pass blocking school in the offseason, he's a liability there. The last thing we need is him blowing a block that injures our franchise QB.

Every team is one injury away at most positions from their having guys you aren’t confident in getting significant snaps.  The Eagles have Saquon who has less starts in the last 4 years than Jones does.  Their backup has 3 years of solid backup production, whereas ours has 1.  After that everyone else in their RB room has like a combined 80 career yards.  Everyone else in our RB room has like 1300 yards.  Who’s RB room needs a RB3 more?  I feel like you could do this for every team.  The primary thing you are looking for in an RB3 is that they are cheap.  The second thing you want out of an RB3 is that they do special teams.  If RB1 goes down for a while, you’re probably bringing another guy in.

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Are we going to draft a RB next year? Probably. Will it be with a first round pick? Maybe, but I’d be surprised. I think they’d probably go with a higher ROI position and round out the room as needed with a day 2 RB after Chandler gets the boot cause he’s no longer on a rookie contract. If AJ falls off a cliff, they’d probably bring in another cheapish veteran.

[MAD GAINZ]

Oh c'mon, do we really have to go through this again? Remember when we signed Aaron Jones to a 1-year deal? Most of us thought OK, good back, but 29 years old and injury prone. 1 fully healthy season in 7. Good thing it's only one year. Fast forward a year, and because Jones got through the year healthy, many seem to have forgotten who he is. He's 30 now, 31 before the playoffs begin. If he can avoid arthritis and dementia, we're one hammy away from Ty Chandler getting 40% of the snaps. And unless he went to pass blocking school in the offseason, he's a liability there. The last thing we need is him blowing a block that injures our franchise QB.

Jordan Mason graded strong as a pass protector.  If Aaron Jones misses time, it'll be him in on passing downs not Chandler.

And why are we all of a sudden shitting on Chandler?  He hasn't been great as a change of pace guy, but he's done well as a rusher and pass catcher when given double digit touches.  Is he a stud?  No, but not many teams have a guy like that sitting 3rd on their depth chart.

[StickierBuns]

Jordan Mason graded strong as a pass protector.  If Aaron Jones misses time, it'll be him in on passing downs not Chandler.

And why are we all of a sudden shitting on Chandler?  He hasn't been great as a change of pace guy, but he's done well as a rusher and pass catcher when given double digit touches.  Is he a stud?  No, but not many teams have a guy like that sitting 3rd on their depth chart.

Yeah put me in the 'I don't understand the RB panic' crowd with some posters. The Vikings didn't draft a RB....AT ALL last spring. How much of a concern do they think it is then? They don't obviously, not for 2025. I'm sure the target was always 2026. The ol' if someone gets injured game applies to basically every position.

[Knucklehead]

Rondale Moore had more than 50 carries in his 3 seasons in Arizona. If he's healthy & makes the team, I would expect that KOC will devise plays where Moore is the ballcarrier. Who knows, he may actually get more RB snaps than Chandler.

[JustInTime]

Hrumph....

Singelton can be your new RB crush. He’s dreamy.

[MaroonBells]

Rondale Moore had more than 50 carries in his 3 seasons in Arizona. If he's healthy & makes the team, I would expect that KOC will devise plays where Moore is the ballcarrier. Who knows, he may actually get more RB snaps than Chandler.

I've been thinking there has to be something like this because the numbers just don't add up. The Eagles have 8 backs on their roster. Bengals, Commies, Steelers have 7. Vikings have 4, and one of those is a UDFA from a tiny school who hasn't had a player drafted in 30 years.

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Jordan Mason graded strong as a pass protector.  If Aaron Jones misses time, it'll be him in on passing downs not Chandler.

And why are we all of a sudden shitting on Chandler?  He hasn't been great as a change of pace guy, but he's done well as a rusher and pass catcher when given double digit touches.  Is he a stud?  No, but not many teams have a guy like that sitting 3rd on their depth chart.

So the team's going to pass only when Mason is in the game? C'mon. No, if Jones is out, Chandler's moves into the 40% role and will be asked to pass block. They didn't trust him to do that last year and even traded for Cam Akers again mid-year to ensure he wouldn't have to.

[StickierBuns]

This is probably CJ Ham's last year in purple, will be 32 years old in a few weeks. Contract ends the end of this season.