Before the season, ESPN’s Seth Walder took stabs in the dark at bold predictions for every NFL team. For the Minnesota Vikings, he suggested that the running back Jordan Mason, whom the team acquired for a fifth and sixth-round draft pick, was going to have a major impact. Despite the team giving Aaron Jones a two-year extension worth $20 million, Walked projected that Mason would rush for 1,100 yards.

As things stand, going into the Vikings’ Bye Week, he is flirting with hitting that mark on the nose.

He points out that Mason is on pace for 1,098 rushing yards in 2025, kind of funny, no? To be that close to hitting it on the nose is both comical and amazing at the same time. He writes about it, saying, “Mason is on pace for 1,098, so forgive me for rounding up. Outside of two fumbles, Mason has been what the Vikings hoped for when they traded for him: an effective runner who could pair with veteran Aaron Jones Sr.’s receiving ability (though Jones has missed the past few games because of a hamstring injury). Mason is averaging 4.7 yards per carry and has 71 rush yards over expectation, per NFL Next Gen Stats, the eighth most among running backs. The Vikings’ offense has not been as prolific as they hoped, but getting it back to average efficiency would help Mason going forward.”

Aaron Jones is still nursing back from a hamstring injury, as he mentions. There is no indication if his stint on injured reserve is going to end anytime soon, but even if it does, will it matter?

Mason has shown he can bring some added juice to the backfield, and we saw in Week 1 that Jones Sr. is looking to be his age for the first time. Time will tell, but it seems that Mason should be able to hit that mark that Walkder projected.

This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: ESPN’s bold prediction for Jordan Mason before the season is on track