After an impressive early-season run, the Aaron Jones portion of the season may have come to its logical conclusion. Jones played great and saw a ton of volume while Jordan Mason was on injured reserve with a thumb injury, but everything changed last week.
Heading into Week 7, off of the Minnesota Vikings' bye week, we heard that Mason was set to return from IR and Jones had been playing through a knee injury. Mason went on to play on 64% of the team's offensive snaps and carried the ball 15 times with one target, while Jones played on just 25% of the snaps with eight carries and one target.
Now, we got word today that Jones did not participate in Wednesday's practice. His fantasy value is rapidly diminishing as he quickly approaches his 32nd birthday.
If you can get anything for Jones, we suggest you trade him immediately. In a four-week stretch with Mason out, he saw 102 opportunities. That is a massive workload for a 31-year-old running back who has struggled with injuries. He served his purpose, but he was also run into the ground in the process.
His knee injury is clearly not getting better, and it could cost him Week 8. Even if he is active this week, he should not be in your starting lineup. We may have seen his last hoorah while Mason was sidelined.
We didn't know how the Vikings' backfield would play out with Mason back, but he was the clear lead back. His role should only grow, with Mason far outperforming Jones and Jones dealing with a knee injury.
In Week 7, Mason rushed for 68 yards on 4.5 yards per carry, while Jones rushed for 26 yards on 3.3 yards per carry. Jones could retain his passing-down role and serve as a change-of-pace back, but Mason is going to be the clear-cut RB1 and handle the majority of the goal-line work moving forward. If you can acquire Mason, buy low on him now while you still can.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/fantasy as Fantasy Football Injury Impact: Aaron Jones Missing Practice Could Force Jordan Mason Into A Bell-Cow Role .
