Minnesota Vikings Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Packers RB Aaron Jones (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday. He downplayed the injury after the Week 1 win, but he's certainly not a lock to play vs. the Falcons this Sunday. Jones' absence would turn A.J. Dillon into Green Bay's feature back. Check back tomorrow for another update on Jones.

Packers RB Aaron Jones didn't sound concerned about the hamstring injury that knocked him out of Sunday's win over the Bears. Jones told reporters afterward that he felt his hamstring "bite" at the end of his TD catch but that it's nowhere near as bad as previous hamstring pulls he's dealt with, per insider Ryan Wood. Jones added that he could have returned if the game was still in doubt. It sounds like he has a good chance to play vs. the Falcons next Sunday, but we'll keep a close eye on Jones' status throughout the coming week.

Packers RB Aaron Jones had himself a Sunday, logging 126 total yards on 10 touches vs. the Bears. The veteran recorded 41 rushing yards on 9 carries with 1 TD. The bulk of his damage came through the air, however. Jones finished Week 1’s victory with 2 catches for 86 yards, including a 51-yard TD off a screen pass in the third quarter. Teammate A.J. Dillon fared much worse, tallying a poor 19 yards on 13 carries. It’s unreasonable to expect Jones to be that efficient on his touches moving forward. Even so, he performed considerably better than Dillon on fewer touches and will look to continue these efforts next Sunday against a Falcons defense that surrendered 167 total yards to Panthers’ RBs in Week 1.

Packers RB Aaron Jones injured his hamstring at the end of a 35-yard receiving score in the third quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Bears. He's officially questionable to return. We'll pass along an update when we get one.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison scored his first career TD in Week 1. Kirk Cousins found the rookie deep for a 39-yard score on 3rd and 11. Addison’s 6 targets matched K.J. Osborn’s total and was predictably behind Justin Jefferson’s tally (12). Still, you have to view Addison’s debut as a success. The 21-year-old should prove useful as a matchup-based WR3 going forward. We expect the Vikings to remain a pass heavy squad in 2023.

The Vikings and TE T.J. Hockenson have agreed to a four-year extension that keeps him in Minnesota through the 2027 season. Hockenson is getting $66 million over the four new years with $42.5 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Hockenson has missed most of training camp with an alleged ear infection and stiff back -- but we're guessing this new contract heals him up. We'll keep an eye on Hockenson's status, but he should be ready to go for Week 1.

Vikings RB Kene Nwangwu has been placed on IR. That knocks him out for at least the first four games of the season. Minnesota signed RB Myles Gaskin, who figures to serve as the No. 3 RB behind Alexander Mattison and Ty Chandler.

The Vikings released RB DeWayne McBride. A favorite of some in the analytics community, McBride sunk to the seventh round of this spring's draft and didn't make any noise in August. He's miles away from fantasy relevance at the moment. Ty Chandler will open the season as Minnesota's No. 2 RB behind Alexander Mattison.

Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson is over the ear infection that has sidelined him in camp but is now out with lower-back stiffness, according to insider Sam Ekstrom. Like the ear issue, this doesn't sound like a major concern. But it's certainly been a less-than-ideal August for Hockenson. We'll let you know when he gets back on the field.

The 49ers have named Sam Darnold their No. 2 QB, NFL Network reports. That leaves QB Trey Lance as the No. 3 -- and his future with the team in limbo. We'll see if Lance is still on the 49ers' roster come Week 1, but he's obviously not worth a roster spot in any redraft leagues.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison (concussion) returned to practice on Wednesday and appeared to be a full-go, according to The Star Tribune's Andrew Krammer. If Addison hasn't been fully cleared yet, he's close. The rookie will be ready to go in plenty of time for Week 1. Consider his fantasy value unaffected by the concussion.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison is in concussion protocol, HC Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday. Addison has experienced "very light symptoms," per Stefanski, but could be cleared as soon as Monday. This shouldn't impact Addison's availability for the start of the regular season, but we'll let you know when he gets back on the field.

Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson said Monday that an ear infection early in camp was affecting his equilibrium. That has kept him out of contact and team drills, according to ESPN's Kevin Seifert. Hockenson also said he didn't know if he would participate in upcoming joint practices with the Titans. This doesn't sound like a big issue. But avoiding contact for that long suggests it's something we need to at least be aware of. We'll see how the rest of August goes for Hockenson. For now, he's not moving down our fantasy football rankings, though.

Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell highlighted RB Ty Chandler as a standout in Thursday night's preseason opener vs. the Seahawks. "I thought Ty Chandler jumped out, because any time he had the ball in his hand, very rarely was he tackled by the first defender," O'Connell said. Chandler finished with 11 carries for 41 yards and caught all four of his targets for 29 yards. He got three-down usage with the starters -- which did not include QB Kirk Cousins, RB Alexander Mattison, WR Justin Jefferson, or TE T.J. Hockenson. RB Kene Nwangu was also held out with an injury, while RB DeWayne McBride only spelled Chandler on occasion in the first half. It was a strong showing from Chandler and has him looking like the favorite to open the season as Minnesota's No. 2 RB behind Mattison.

Bills WR Trent Sherfield has been working in with the first-team offense throughout training camp, along with WRs Khalil Shakir and Deonte Harty, according to The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia. Those three are battling for the No. 3 WR job, behind Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis. And "among the three, Sherfield has had the strongest training camp," Buscaglia writes. Preseason performance might ultimately decide who opens the season as Buffalo's No 3. We'll keep a close eye on the situation.

Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell said Wednesday that WR Jordan Addison is "off to a good start" in training camp. The rookie missed much of the spring with an undisclosed injury but seems to have put that behind him. "What he's done on the grass so far has confirmed a lot of the things that we expected from Jordan," O'Connell added. "He's also done some things instinctively just playing football within the confines of our scheme... he's showing a willingness to be a blocker, he's showing understanding of how he fits within the scheme and the rhythm and timing of the QB in the pass game. I'm really excited about him." Addison remains a good bet to open the season as Minnesota's No. 2 WR, giving him immediate WR3 potential in fantasy lineups.

None of the Vikings' backup RBs have stepped up in camp so far, according to The Athletic's Alec Lewis. RB Ty Chandler has "lacked consistency," RB DeWayne McBride "faces a tall task in trying to learn the offense in short order," and RB Kene Nwangwu is unlikely to "shoulder a massive load," Lewis writes. It continues to look like RB Alexander Mattison will handle a high percentage of Minnesota's backfield touches this season. We'll see if one of these other guys gets rolling -- or if the Vikings add a veteran to the backfield.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison was cited for speeding and reckless driving by Minnesota Stat Patrol early Thursday morning. NFL Network's Clayton Holloway reports that he was caught driving 140 mph at 3 a.m. Addison wasn't arrested, and traffic stops don't tend to produce league discipline. So we're not concerned about this event affecting the rookie's playing time. We'll see, however, if it's a signal that fantasy managers should be generally concerned about Addison's off-field manor.

Packers RB Aaron Jones is about as reliable as they come for fantasy managers. Jones finished last season with six top-12 weekly finishes and two more inside the top-24. In total, Jones finished as an RB3 or better in 15 of his 17 games. Among 41 RBs who received 100+ carries in 2022, Jones ranked second in PFF rushing grade, ninth in elusive rating, and 11th in yards after contact per attempt (3.20). There's a reason why he hasn't finished outside the top 12 overall RBs in PPR since 2018. However, there's a risk that streak comes to an end in 2023 with new QB Jordan Love under center. It's reasonable to expect the team will help Love by running the ball plenty, but that'll cut into Jones' production as a receiver out of the backfield. The Packers were fairly neutral in run-pass rate last year, though they did finish 18th in Pass Rate Over Expectation. If that drops any further with Love at the helm, Jones' fantasy ceiling will certainly take a hit. His effectiveness as a pass-catcher is already showing signs of decline, too. Of the 17 RBs who saw 50+ targets last year, Jones finished 13th in PFF receiving grade, 10th in yards per route run (1.25), and 14th in drop rate (9.2%). While not terrible, Jones declined in all three marks vs. 2021. So maybe he can bounce back in that department, but we're not expecting much. See where Jones lands in our current RB rankings.

Beat writer Bill Huber believes the Packers “might want to lean more on [Aaron] Jones” in 2023. Huber cites the transition to QB Jordan Love and the trust from HC Matt LaFleur. “[I] can’t say enough great things about him, just the man he is, the player he is, the son he is, the father he is,” LaFleur said of Jones last month. “He’s definitely, I’ll throw it out there... he’s one of my favorites.” Jones, who turns 29 in December, played all 17 games last season. He approached a career-high with 272 touches and did set a personal best in Pro Football Focus rushing grade (91.0, 2nd-best among RBs). Current Draft Sharks projections have the Packers at a balanced 54% pass rate; 46% run rate. Jones checks in as a top-20 option on the RB rankings.