Throughout the course of his eight-year NFL career, Aaron Jones has never genuinely been considered one of the elite running backs in the league.
Set to kick off his second season with the Minnesota Vikings, the 30-year-old has earned just a single Pro Bowl selection, that coming back in 2020 with the Green Bay Packers, with whom he spent the first seven seasons of his career after they made him the 182nd overall pick in the 2017 draft.
In that 2020 campaign, the UTEP alum rushed for a then-career-high 1,104 yards with nine touchdowns, adding another 355 yards and two scores on 47 receptions. Jones was clearly snubbed the season before after scoring a league-leading 19 total touchdowns, 16 on the ground and three through the air.
He also ranked eighth in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage in 2019, amassing 1,558. And while that remains his career high, Jones nearly matched it last season with the Vikings, leading the team with 1,546, which again ranked eighth among all players and sixth among running backs. Justin Jefferson ranked ninth, by the way, with 1,536 yards.
The overall point here is that Jones has put up some serious overall numbers over the last eight years, gaining 7,078 rushing yards on 1,432 attempts in 114 regular-season games, while adding 2,484 yards on 323 receptions, thus giving him 9,562 total yards from scrimmage.
And if the Georgia native can duplicate the success he had a season ago during the upcoming 2025 campaign, he'll make his way into the top 50 on the NFL's all-time rushing yards list and the top 100 on the all-time total yards from scrimmage list.
Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones needs 1,034 yards to crack the top 50 on the NFL's all-time rushing yards list
As it stands now, Jones' 7,078 rushing yards has him in 69th place on the all-time list. Currently sitting in 50th on the leaderboard is Mark Ingram, who tallied 8,111 yards for the New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, and Houston Texans during his 12-year career (2011-2022).
As such, Jones would need 1,034 yards to crack the top 50. That said, however, there are two active backs ahead of him on the list, those being Saquon Barkley, who sits in 65th with 7,216 yards, and Joe Mixon, who ranks 60th with 7,428.
So, depending on where those two end up, Jones may need to gain a few extra yards to solidify his spot. But it wouldn't take too many, as Priest Holmes sits in 48th at 8,172, meaning Jones may need to get to 1,095, which he's done three times in the last five years.
Jones needs 1,100 total yards from scrimmage to get into the NFL's all-time top 100
As it pertains to total yards from scrimmage, Jones' 9,562 currently has him in the 134th position on the all-time leaderboard. The current owner of the No. 100 slot is Stefon Diggs, who enters his first season with the New England Patriots with 10,661 yards, putting Jones 1,099 yards behind.
Again, though, there are a few active players ahead of Jones on the leaderboard, those being Amari Cooper (No. 117--10,774), Joe Mixon (No. 120--9,876), Brandin Cooks (No. 121--9,873), and Saquon Barkley (No. 133--9,594). Cooper, of course, hasn't yet signed with a team for the 2025 season, but one has to think he will soon.
If none of the others mentioned above didn't gain a single yard, Jones would need exactly 1,100 yards to surpass Diggs. But we all know that's not going to happen, so, again, he'll need to tack on a little extra, perhaps a couple hundred extra.
For safety's sake, let's assume he needs to get to where the current No. 94 stands, which is Roddy White's 10,882 yards. In this scenario, Jones would need to get to 1,321, which he's done four times in the last six seasons.