AARON JONES
Aaron Jones signed a reported 2-year, $20 million extension with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, March 9. Aaron Jones had a productive and healthy season for the purple and gold in 2024. He totaled over 1,500 yards, with 1,138 of them on the ground. He added seven total touchdowns as well. This past season for Jones was a step in the right direction at age 30, after looking like the running back wall might hit him.
The Vikings have had a cast of characters at the quarterback position for over a decade now, with Kirk Cousins being the mainstay. Sam Darnold was the latest to leave for Seattle on a 3-year, $100.5 million deal. Seattle needed their new QB1 after trading Geno Smith to the Raiders last week. This domino effect has left Minnesota with their first-round draft choice in 2024, J.J. McCarthy, the Michigan product. Minnesota feels this is their best option for many possible reasons, but the main one being their unwillingness to give the uncertainty of Sam Darnold a $100 million paycheck.
How does this impact Jones? Well, he is the RB1 in Minnesota after finishing as an RB2 (PPR) and the RB14 overall last season with Darnold under center. Now, with a more inexperienced QB McCarthy, Jones can be used to stabilize the young quarterback and offense. I do not see Jones’ production falling off one bit, maybe even ticking up this coming season. The only thing that can hinder him is injuries, which have been an issue in the past, making him more difficult to rank and draft in the preseason. Minnesota’s offense will be tough to compete with once again in 2025.
NAJEE HARRIS
Late on Monday night Najee Harris signed a one-year $9.25 million contract with the Los Angeles Chargers. This ends his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers and gives Jaylen Warren a boost. Harris is replacing the one-year experiment with J.K. Dobbins. Most would argue it was a successful one with Dobbins rushing for over 900 yards and a whopping nine touchdowns in 13 games. Those 13 games are most likely why they moved on from the oft-injured running back.
Najee Harris has been one of the most up-and-down players in fantasy football since he entered the league in 2021. He has finished with roughly the same stat line each season. Roughly 1,100 yards, 7 touchdowns, and limitations in the passing game. His best season was his rookie campaign in 2021, where he was a first-round draft pick in the NFL draft and borderline in fantasy drafts. Najee Harris has just disappointed since then, not that he has been a bad fantasy player, but we just expect so much more from the Alabama product.Â
Now, we get to see what Harris can do in Greg Roman’s offense. J.K. Dobbins had a very successful three-quarters of a season, in an offense that likes to run the ball. This will be the best offense that Harris will have the opportunity to be a part of. To be conservative, expect a similar season for Harris with the Chargers in the passing game and on the ground. The one area that could aid Harris in moving from an RB3 to an RB2 would be an opportunity for more touchdown scores.
JAVONTE WILLIAMS
Javonte Williams‘ tenure in Denver was one marked with early success, frustration with his workload, and head-scratching moments. Williams, 24, is still very young and full of potential. His ACL tear in 2022 has held him back for the last few seasons. Along with Denver’s triple-headed… puppy? (Well, it’s not a monster) at Running Back. Williams split time with Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime last season. With none of the three eclipsing 515 rushing yards on the season. The combination of these things was boiling over with reasons for Williams to leave Denver.
The back ended his time in Denver officially on Monday, March 10. He signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Dallas Cowboys. This is a low-risk deal for Dallas as they look to add to the depth of the position. Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliot were the two main RBs in Dallas a season ago. Elliot is as cooked as a dry Thanksgiving Turkey, while Dowdle never really reaches the heights expected of him. While I do not expect Williams to be the only impactful move Dallas makes at the position this offseason, I do believe that Williams can find new life in that offense that desperately needed some explosiveness.Â
Dallas may be looking to add in the draft to complement their new back. The Cowboys have been rumored to be interested in the stud from Boise State, Ashton Jeanty, who rushed for over 2,600 yards, 29 Touchdowns, and averaged seven yards per carry. Could Williams be the one who spells the workload for Jeanty? If that is the case, look for Williams to be able to put up good numbers in PPR formats, becoming the third-down back. I expect Williams to be much more of a fantasy option in 2025 and a steal late in drafts.
THE REST
There are still a few projected fantasy-viable running back free agents out there. Nick Chubb, J.K. Dobbins, Rico Dowdle, and a lot of Rookie RBs in the Draft. The running back market is still hot, things can change very quickly. I am interested to see how it will affect all of our lineups in the fall.
