The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Minnesota Vikings players heading into their matchup with the Washington Commanders to help you craft a winning lineup.
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J.J. McCarthy, QB
Max Brosmer got the start last week for J.J. McCarthy (concussion), something that some speculated was a soft benching.
Label it whatever you’d like: McCarthy hasn’t shown anything on the field to dismiss those questions. For the season, he’s completed just 54.1% of his passes with 10 interceptions against six touchdowns.
There have been moments of viability, and he’s making the effort to get his top options the ball, but failing to do so at a comical level.
Only time will tell what McCarthy’s future holds in the NFL, but for fantasy purposes, he’s not close to mattering, something that is difficult to do given the situation he’s in.
Max Brosmer, QB
Growing up, they always tell you that there is someone out there who is bigger than you, faster than you, better than you.
We learned on Sunday in Seattle that the inverse of that statement is also true.
Vikings fans thought they had it bad with JJ McCarthy struggling to adapt to the pro game, and then they watched Max Brosmer for 60 minutes.
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It was obviously a brutal spot to step into and that needs to be factored, but fans don’t always act with rationality as their guiding light. Brosmer had as many interceptions as Justin Jefferson had receiving yards, and one was about as bad a decision as you’ll see on the NFL stage.
The other three? He wasn’t pressured on; he just couldn’t read the play the right way at the right speed. This job was always going to be McCarthy’s (concussion) when he was cleared because of the draft capital invested in him, but he gained more in terms of job security over the past week than he has when he has taken the field.
Aaron Jones Sr., RB
Aaron Jones suffered a shoulder injury in the third quarter last week, and he may sit out this week as the Vikings play out the string of this season, with a year left on his contract.
Even if he plays, what exactly are you chasing?
He has one game this season with double-digit rush attempts, and while the role in the passing game has elevated his floor to a tough (3+ catches in four straight games), all you have to do is ask a Justin Jefferson manager about how sideways counting on this passing game can go.
If active, I prefer his reception projection to Jordan Mason’s edge in close, but he’d still be ranked no better than a middling flex. Should he sit, we get a situation where the RB touches all go to one place, and if you roster both, this is the outcome you want.
Jordan Mason, RB
Jordan Mason has averaged 5.2 touches per game over the past month and isn’t a player that is on our flex radar should Aaron Jones play.
That much, I think, we can agree on and need no further analysis.
But Jones is dealing with a shoulder injury, and this season has gotten away from the Vikes. I’m not sure their winning window starts next season, but the veteran RB does have another year left on his deal, so what motivation do they have to push him?
If Mason sits atop this depth chart come the weekend, I’m in.
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He has a 15+ yard run in three straight games despite the limited role, and he’s proven to have staying power in fantasy land when extended. The Washington run defense hasn’t been as stout as it was on Sunday night (RJ Harvey: 2.7 YPC) for all seasons, and that has me thinking that Mason can blend efficiency and volume nicely if given the full workload.
At the very least, we could get bailed out with a touchdown should this Minnesota offense connect the dots for a drive or two. The Commanders are the eighth-worst red zone defense (60.9% TD rate), and we saw Mason pull a dud game out of the fire back in Week 7 when filling in for Jones with a touchdown (15 carries for 57 yards against the Eagles).
Jones would be a low-end flex if active. If he sits, Mason would soar past that and make a push for my top 15 at the position in Week 14.
Jordan Addison, WR
Through two NFL seasons, Jordan Addison proved himself as a threat downfield and a touchdown scorer. We had questions about his ability to earn targets at a high rate, but the single-play upside next to the well-rounded nature of Justin Jefferson was a perfect match.
As it turns out, skill sets are great, but you need a quarterback to make them matter, and the Vikings are learning that the hard way.
Minnesota has scored 23 points over the past three weeks, and that environment is making it nearly impossible for anyone on this offense to produce. Addison’s strengths haven’t been seen for a while (one touchdown in November and three straight games without a grab, gaining more than 15 yards), and I’m struggling to pull a single thread that has something optimistic attached to it.
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This Washington matchup looks good on paper, but if the quarterback play doesn’t improve in a major way, it won’t matter. Tua Tagovailoa, Caleb Williams, and Jordan Love, to varying degrees, have had consistency issues this season: the Commanders didn’t allow any of their receivers to score 12 PPR points.
Addison was valued too high entering this season because of a TD rate that had nowhere to go but down. This final two-month stretch could result in him actually turning into a nice buy in August if your draft room overreacts to the 2025 box score (and if Minnesota cleans up this QB room, of course).
Justin Jefferson, WR
It’s a good thing that Justin Jefferson doesn’t get paid by the catch, the yard, or the fantasy point. If that were the case, there would be social media accounts tracking his decline in the number of chains he wears during the games.
At this point, I don’t know what there is to say. We’ve seen him produce fantasy numbers with some QB uncertainty in the past, and that means that the current situation in Minnesota is as bad, if not worse, than the raw stats suggest.
On Sunday, Jefferson had catches of eight and negative-four yards. Over the course of the entire game. In a spot where the Vikes had nearly twice as many pass attempts as rush attempts due to the score of the game.
Yes, Max Brosmer had as many interceptions as Jefferson had receiving yards, something that feels made up.
That’s now five straight games under 65 receiving yards, six straight without a 30-yard catch, and an 11-game run where he has, checks notes, one touchdown reception. Entering this season, I would have thought it impossible for Jefferson to go through a stretch like this, but here we are.
The semi-good news is that if you’re still alive in your fantasy league and roster Jefferson, you probably have a helluva team that is getting production from just about everywhere else.
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I’d love to give you some sort of statistical silver lining for this situation, but there’s literally nothing outside of his raw talent to cling to. The Commanders don’t generate much pressure, so maybe there’s a world where Kevin O’Connell simplifies the offense and encourages his QB to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers on timing routes, understanding that, without pressure, there should be some semblance of rhythm.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
Terry McLaurin will be in this game just one week removed from a month-long injury and facing a stiffer defense. I didn’t hesitate to rank him above Jefferson. He’s ranked next to Christian Watson and Khalil Shakir this week, and of that trio, I’m not at all sold that he holds the highest ceiling or the highest floor.
T.J. Hockenson, TE
The pass catcher in this Minnesota offense that we were most willing to give up on early is now their most efficient?
Sometimes, I hate this game.
TJ Hockenson caught all six of his targets over the weekend, the third time in four games where a ball thrown his way didn’t hit the turf, a feat that was even more impressive when you consider that Max Brosmer was 13-of-24 with four interceptions when throwing to players not named Hockenson in Seattle.
This feels like a red herring at the highest level. The efficiency is well above expectations, and with Jordan Addison/Justin Jefferson continuing to get looks, I’d expect natural regression to swing in their direction sooner than later.
Whether the WRs bounce back or not is one thing, but I’m not comfortable clicking Hockenson as a starter into critical matchups this week with “efficiency from Max Brosmer” being the leg I’m standing on.