EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings boosted their backfield more than a week after reaching a deal to return Aaron Jones, Sr., to Minnesota.

The team finalized a trade with San Francisco on Tuesday to bring Jordan Mason to Minnesota. The deal includes the Vikings receiving the 187th overall pick of 2025 (in the sixth round) in exchange for the 160th (in the fifth round) and a 2026 sixth-rounder going to San Francisco.

Here are five things to know about Mason.

1. Started 2024 with a flash and a bang

The 49ers filled the void of not having 2023 Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey by starting Mason out of the gate.

He rewarded them with 147 rushing yards against the Jets in Week 1 when Next Gen Stats credited him with 13 missed tackles forced, which was five more than any player that week. Tom Brady recognized the performance by including Mason as one of his three “LFG” Players of the Week.

Mason followed with 100 more yards against the Vikings, including a 10-yard touchdown scamper, in Week 2, setting a San Francisco record for rushing yards in a 49ers player's first two NFL starts.

After rushing for 77 yards in Week 3 at the Rams, Mason added another 123 on the ground against New England, good for 447 yards in the month of September.

During that spree, NGS counted 29 missed tackles forced on 72 offensive touches.

Mason made six total starts in 12 games played, finishing with 789 yards and three scores on 153 rush attempts. He added 11 catches for 91 yards on 14 targets.

2. Hard to take down

An ankle injury led to Mason being placed on Injured Reserve in December and prevented him from carding his first 1,000-yard season, but when he was on the field, he was hard to take down.

According to Next Gen Stats, Mason recorded 57 missed tackles forced, which was good for an MTF percentage of 37.3 that led all NFL players with at least 150 rush attempts in 2024. NGS credited Mason with 207 rush yards over expected, which ranked seventh among NFL qualifiers, and TruMedia counted his yards after contact per rush at 3.62, which ranked sixth among qualifiers.

3. Repped the Ramblin' Wreck

Mason played college football at Georgia Tech, where he repped the Ramblin' Wreck.

After redshirting in 2017, Mason played the next four seasons and closed with 2,349 career rushing yards, which ranked 11^th in school history, on 449 rush attempts (15^th in school history).

Mason averaged 5.2 yards per carry in college and scored 17 touchdowns on the ground.

He graduated in December 2021 with a B.S. in business administration.

4. Family & fun

Mason is the middle of three siblings, and their first cousin Zaccheus Mason played college basketball at Mississippi and Tennessee-Chattanooga before playing professionally in France and the Philippines.

Off the field, Mason enjoys bowling, which could set up an interesting showdown with new Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, who named that activity as one of his favorite hobbies.

5. From age 5 to 5A star

Mason began playing football at age 5 in Tennessee.

Success continued, with Mason becoming the runner-up for Tennessee's Class 5A Mr. Football Award during his senior season at Gallatin High School.

He set a school record with 4,523 career rushing yards, which included a single-season school-record of 2,050 in 2016. Mason also has the school's single-game rushing record (307).

Mason also played baseball, earning three letters, and basketball, earning two letters, for the Green Wave before becoming a Yellow Jacket.

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