Calls among Minnesota Vikings fans and media members who cover the team regularly are steadily growing for Kevin O’Connell to make a change under center from Kyler Murray to Carson Wentz, and the head coach may have just caught the break he needed to do so while still allowing the franchise to save face.
The Vikings named Murray the starting QB over JJ McCarthy before either had taken a preseason snap. Minnesota then demoted McCarthy to QB3 before trading him to the New York Giants for a fifth-round draft asset in what was a fairly historic punt on top-10 pick in just his third NFL season at 23 years old and with only 10 starts on his resumé.
Murray has not performed poorly enough that one can accurately call his season through seven games a worst-case scenario for the Vikings. But across the range of possible outcomes, Murray has definitely produced on the lower end of the spectrum.
Benching him outright now would equate to O’Connell and first-year GM Nolan Teasley admitting that Murray’s elevation to QB1 and the team’s hastiness to sell low on McCarthy were both significant mistakes.
However, Murray’s moderate hamstring concern, which he suffered in the team’s first loss of the season last week to the Detroit Lions, might be precisely the window O’Connell requires to go back to Wentz while maintaining plausible deniability with regards to Murray.
Kyler Murray Suffered Hamstring Concern Last Week
O’Connell mentioned during the postgame that hamstring tightness was the reason for Murray’s trip to the blue tent on the sidelines during the fourth quarter in Detroit.
On Tuesday, November 3, Ian Rapoport of ESPN and NFL Network reported that Murray could miss time due to the injury, which isn’t overly severe but may impact his ability to scramble.
“I don’t get the sense it’s really bad, but he is a mobile QB,” Rapoport said. “If he can’t move like he needs to, then I don’t know that he’s gonna play.”
Making plays with his legs has been Murray’s saving grace this season, and if he can’t do that effectively, it’s hard to imagine the Vikings scoring enough points to keep up with the visiting Buffalo Bills on next week’s addition of “Monday Night Football.”
Vikings Arguably Soft-Benched JJ McCarthy for Carson Wentz Last Season
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote Tuesday that he suspects the Vikings will use Murray’s injury as “cover” for a “soft benching” that will allow O’Connell to go back to Wentz without formally demoting Murray.
“It’s hard not to look at the current status of Murray’s hamstring ‘tightness’ as cover for a soft benching of Murray,” Florio wrote. “That gives the Vikings a chance to let Carson Wentz, who played well enough in most of the Week 1 win over the Packers and all of the Week 2 win over the Bears.”
Several analysts suggested that Minnesota did essentially the same thing last season after McCarthy suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2. Wentz stepped in, starting the next five games over a six-week span that included the Vikings’ bye.
McCarthy eventually got the starting job back, though only after Wentz went down for the season with a shoulder injury that required surgery. If he had not suffered that injury when he did, circumstances would have forced the Vikings to tip their hand as to their true preferences at QB, with six weeks being the upward amount of time any player might legitimately miss with an ankle sprain — absent any setbacks.
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