How Matt Asiata Is Holding Back the Minnesota Vikings Offense

In an otherwise productive day for the Minnesota Vikings offense against the New York Jets, Matt Asiata’s ineffectiveness from the running back position pulled down the entire unit. To make matters worse, Norv Turner called his number repeatedly. The team’s reliance on such a limited back is becoming a problem.

Nobody would say the Vikings are in an enviable position here. Jerick McKinnon, who was only supposed to play a small role behind Adrian Peterson in 2014 before being moved up the pecking order, was placed on injured reserve with a back injury and will miss the rest of the season, according to Vikings.com.

Minnesota has made it abundantly clear that Asiata is next in line, but maybe he shouldn’t be.

Asiata’s limitations are well documented. He was averaging 3.3 yards per carry entering Sunday’s game. He moves and runs more like a fullback than a starting NFL running back. Through pass blocking and receiving, he had found a niche behind McKinnon. Now his role has gotten too big.

Against New York, he played the lion’s share of snaps in the backfield and was given 19 of 28 carries. A 2.8 average and a longest run of eight yards is all he had to show for it.

Turner’s insistence on running Asiata on first down crippled the offense more than the back’s sheer ineffectiveness too. Excluding the Hail Mary to end the first half, Asiata toted the rock on 13 of 24 first-down plays. In drives with no time constraint, he ran it on 13 of 21 plays.

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Turner even had the gall to give it to Asiata on five consecutive first-down plays during Minnesota’s third-quarter drive that culminated in a missed field goal.

The decision to feature Asiata so heavily, especially on first downs, held back the Vikings offense.

Asiata’s average first-down run netted 2.38 yards, and the Vikings were left needing 7.77 yards on the average second down. Putting Teddy Bridgewater and a depleted offensive line in longer down-and-distances proved costly on numerous occasions.

Going any other direction was effective for the Vikings on first down too. The three first-down runs that went to other backs netted four, six and 23 yards, respectively. The average play that was not a run to Asiata gained 9.36 yards and picked up four first downs on 11 tries. None of Asiata’s first-down runs moved the chains.

Those numbers differ greatly from expectations in the discrepancy between run and pass plays. A league-average run play on first down nets 4.2 yards and an average pass play nets 6.5, per Pro-Football-Reference. The gap between the two was much bigger for the Vikings on Sunday, yet Turner continuously pounded Asiata on the inside.

The “establish the run” theory is so heavily cited in the NFL that it has become cliche at this point. Turner clearly believes in it though, even to the point of calling run plays on first down despite poor results.

All of this only served to make Bridgewater’s task more difficult, which he handled on one of his best day’s as a pro so far. But with an offensive line so frequently terrorized by a formidable Jets front, Minnesota would have been smart to mix in a wider variety of plays on first down to keep the offense from needing so many yards on ensuing downs.

That includes passing plays on first down (gasp).

A lack of options is not necessarily the problem here, either. Between Ben Tate and Joe Banyard, the Vikings have two backs who are better runners than Asiata quite frankly.

	Season	Season	vs. Jets	vs. Jets
	Carries	YPC	Carries	YPC
Asiata	99	3.26	19	2.8
Banyard	8	5.38	1	9.0
Tate*	8	3.75	3	5.0

*Statistics from stint with the Browns excluded.

Neither Tate nor Banyard has much of a sample to draw from statistically. They both at least have passing grades on the eye test, though. Both run with more explosiveness than Asiata and therefore have more versatility. Both also offer more upside on a per-carry basis, meaning they can actually get first downs from longer than a few yards out.

In weeks to come, the Vikings must commit to a more varied approach on early downs.

Before Sunday’s game, Mike Zimmer commented that the Vikings would ride the “hot hand” at the position, per Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune. An assumption that Asiata did not match that description against New York seems safe.

So when Minnesota goes up against even stiffer defenses in Detroit and Miami, Tate and Banyard must get bigger roles in the ground game.

Asiata is a reliable back, and that proves very helpful in short-yardage situations and on third downs. He does not reliably pick up yardage on first and second downs as a runner, unfortunately.

If Turner and the Vikings have any plans for success on the ground with McKinnon in the rearview mirror, changes must be made. Continuing to call Asiata’s name on first down will keep the offense needing chunk yardage on the next two downs and keep Bridgewater’s jersey quite dirty.

With Ziggy Ansah, Ndamukong Suh, Cameron Wake and a few other potent rushers around the corner, that hardly seems like a plan at all.

The rushing attack’s purpose is to set the table for the passing game. Less Asiata should mean more yardage on the ground and more yardage through the air as the Vikings press forward with three games to go.

Statistics via ESPN.com box score or ESPN.com statistics unless otherwise noted.