{"id":71797,"date":"2025-05-23T02:55:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T02:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/71797\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T02:55:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T02:55:17","slug":"former-vikings-playmaker-could-be-in-trouble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/71797\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Vikings Playmaker Could Be in Trouble"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"Nov 19, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison (2) before the game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Prior to Kevin O\u2019Connell\u2019s arrival in the Twin Cities, the Minnesota Vikings were known for the running game, rather than the pass-first team they\u2019ve been since. Adrian Peterson is one of the best running backs of all time. His name has been engraved in the NFL record books and certainly in the franchise books, too. <\/p>\n

Peterson\u2019s successor, Dalvin Cook, was also a prominent runner in the league, making four Pro Bowls. For a while, the offense ran through him despite being teammates with Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, and Justin Jefferson. <\/p>\n

Former Viking Could Be in Trouble<\/p>\n

\"vikings\"May 26, 2021; Eagan, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook (33) and running back Alexander Mattison (25) participate in drills at OTA at TCO Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

In recent years, having good backups has been a popular strategy for NFL franchises to keep the primary rusher fresh. Cook\u2019s backup was drafted in 2019. Alexander Mattison, out of Boise State, was Rick Spielman\u2019s third-rounder that year. <\/p>\n

The Vikings released him in the 2024 offseason, and he joined the Las Vegas Raiders. This year, he was once again a free agent, and the Miami Dolphins took a chance. However, he might already be on thin ice. <\/p>\n

Competition<\/p>\n

The Dolphins have had a phenomenal rushing attack ever since hiring Mike McDaniel in 2022. Coming from the 49ers, where he coordinated Kyle Shanahan\u2019s running game, he brought that expertise with him.<\/p>\n

\"\"Miami Dolphins running back De\u2019Von Achane (28) scores a touchdown after running past New York Jets cornerback Brandin Echols (26) and New York Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood (44) in the fourth quarter, Sunday, January 5, 2025, in East Rutherford.<\/p>\n

The top rusher on the depth chart is De\u2019Von Achane, a third-year player who has been among the most explosive RBs in his first two seasons with a career average per run of 5.6 yards. <\/p>\n

Behind him, the Dolphins employ 2024 fourth-rounder Jaylen Wright. He is another speedy back and secured 249 rushing yards last year. <\/p>\n

Because these two guys are faster rushers who lack the size of a true bruiser, signing the bigger Mattison made sense. In the draft, however, the Dolphins selected Ollie Gordon II out of Oklahoma State. He is 6\u20191\u2033 and 226 lbs and can just slide into that role.<\/p>\n

Mattison has not reached 4.0 yards per carry in a season since 2020, and his last few years have been fairly disappointing.<\/p>\n

Vikings Career<\/p>\n

\"NFL:Dec 31, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison (2) runs with the ball against the Green Bay Packers in the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

The Vikings added Mattison in 2019, and he quickly won the RB2 title. In his rookie year, Mattison contributed 462 rushing yards and one score on the ground. His role pretty much remained the same throughout the first four seasons. He was Cook\u2019s backup, got a handful of carries a game, and when Cook was forced to sit out a game or two, he put up some monster numbers. <\/p>\n

In his second and third years, he collected 434 and 491 rushing yards and scored a total of five times on the ground. He also showed some growth as a pass-catcher and became a reliable checkdown option. In the first year under O\u2019Connell, his fourth in the NFL, his numbers dropped. Cook remained healthy all year, and O\u2019Connell threw the ball more. Mattison only gained 283 rushing yards, still the lowest of his career. <\/p>\n

\"NFL:Oct 15, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) hands off to running back Alexander Mattison (2) in the second half against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell\u2019s lack of emphasis on the running game helped Mattison in 2023, however, when he was a free agent and received a two-year deal from the Vikings to take over the RB1 duties following Cook\u2019s release. That experiment didn\u2019t work out, though. After 700 rushing yards and a soft benching for Ty Chandler later in the year, the Vikings said goodbye one year into his two-year contract.<\/p>\n

Last year with the Raiders, Mattison rushed for 420 yards and four touchdowns, which is pretty much what he used to do with the Vikings. He is still a reliable backup running back, but lacks the explosiveness for more.<\/p>\n

Vikings Backfield<\/p>\n

\"\"Dec 22, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones (33) stiff arms Seattle Seahawks cornerback Coby Bryant (8) during a run play in the first half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Since Mattison\u2019s release, the Vikings have turned to ex-Packer Aaron Jones, who was fantastic in his first year with the club. In fact, he was so good that he received a brand-new two-year contract. Jones will turn 31 during the upcoming season, which is old for a running back, but he was still efficient last year.<\/p>\n

To keep him fresh, the Vikings traded for former 49ers back Jordan Mason. He played well last year when Christian McCaffrey needed some time off and should be a nice complement to Jones as a bigger back. <\/p>\n

Ty Chandler is still in the mix. It remains to be seen if either Zavier Scott or Tre Stewart<\/a> can unseat him for the RB3 gig. <\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Information from\u00a0PFF<\/a>,\u00a0Over The Cap<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0Pro Football Reference<\/a>\u00a0helped with this article.<\/p>\n

\"Vikings<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nov 19, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison (2) before the game against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[6619,7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-71797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-alexander-mattison","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-vikings","12":"tag-minnesotavikings","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114554898589121435","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}