Vikings Make the Kyler Call

The Vikings have made the call on Kyler Murray.

Carson Wentz is going to start on Sunday as Minnesota travels to Chicago. Doing so means that J.J. McCarthy will function as the main backup. Look for Max Brosmer, the sophomore UDFA, to get bumped up from the practice squad. He’ll slot into that emergency QB3 job where he can only be inserted if the top pair of passers go down to injury.

Consider the official blurb from the team itself: “Head Coach Kevin O’Connell announces that Carson Wentz will start Sunday at Chicago and J.J. McCarthy will serve as the team’s backup.”

Vikings Make the Kyler Call

Last week, Mr. Wentz did reasonably well without being terrific. The veteran completed 63.2% of his passes by going 12/19 for 133 yards and 3 touchdowns.

In the end, Minnesota had 39 points for the day, a beefy total that’s going to be tough to replicate. So much of what went into that final score was excellence from specials teams and especially the defense. Can Wentz shine without that kind of support?

Sticking with the run game was a wise move but Minnesota is now lacking Jordan Mason. Some combination of Aaron Jones alongside DeeJay Dallas and Demond Claiborne are going to get the ground attack cooking.

Another part of the problem is that WR2 Jordan Addison and WR3 Jauan Jennings got shutout against the Packers. Neither had a single catch, but Jennings does do wonderful work as a blocker.

Jennings isn’t able to play in Week 2 due to a personal issue that Ben Goessling reports is a close family loss. The word from the writer from The Star Tribune: “Kevin O’Connell said the Vikings will start Carson Wentz on Sunday. Kyler Murray made progress this week, and should be out of the concussion protocol by next week. J.J. McCarthy will be the backup. Jauan Jennings will be out after the loss of a close family member.”

And then there were the coverage issues for Brian Flores’s secondary. Josh Metellus and Theo Jackson had terrible games. So did CB1 Byron Murphy Jr. All of these guys need to be better. Weapons such as Rome Odunze and Colston Loveland are going to feast if the zones don’t tighten.

Expecting Wentz to win without all of these guys playing better would be foolish. Close to impossible, even.

The Vikings have made the correct call with Kyler Murray. Caution is to be encouraged when we’re talking about a person’s cognitive health. Let the top passer get completely healthy before considering a reinsertion into the lineup.

Kickoff for the Vikings at Bears is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. CT on Sunday, September 20th.

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