The Minnesota Vikings open their 2026 season on Sept. 13 against the Green Bay Packers with a new quarterback under center.
Kyler Murray won the job over J.J. McCarthy through OTAs and the early stretch of training camp, bringing a dual-threat skill set that Minnesota hopes can get its offense moving immediately.
How often he should actually run, however, has become a live debate in the days before kickoff.
Phil Mackey of Purple Daily offered a specific prescription for Kevin O’Connell.
“Kyler, in his second year in the NFL, ran eight to nine times per game,” Mackey said in a video from SKOR North. “That number is down to four to five times per game post-knee injury. That feels like a fair number to me; if it’s 10 times a game, way too much risk. If it’s four to five times a game and three of those are on a third down, and you’re converting. But to me, the mobility is best used off play-action bootlegs, staying behind the line of scrimmage, and sandlot football if you need to get down the field.”
That recommendation sits against Murray’s history in Arizona, where designed and improvised runs were a larger part of the weekly plan. Mackey’s co-host Judd Zulgad does not expect Minnesota to recreate that volume.
He argued that asking Murray to run the way he sometimes did with the Cardinals would raise the chance of another injury, and that the Vikings are more likely to want a different look than a carbon copy of the old offense.
The former No. 1 overall pick still has the burst to extend plays. The question is how often O’Connell will invite him to use it in traffic.
O’Connell himself has framed Murray’s value less around scramble totals and more around accuracy and rhythm. Mic’d up during the third quarter of Minnesota’s final preseason game against Denver, the head coach talked about studying Murray’s years in Arizona and seeing a quarterback who was often asked to create off schedule.
What the Vikings want, he said, is simpler: completions, the ball in play, and a running game that can take some of the load once the starters are on the field. Murray’s career profile as a high-completion thrower is the part of his game O’Connell sounded most eager to lean on.
That pairing of ideas—limited designed rushing, more play-action movement behind the line, and an emphasis on throwing the ball on time—gives Minnesota a working theory heading into Lambeau Field. Murray can still make something out of a broken play.
The people closest to the team are just arguing that four or five carries, used at the right moments, is enough to keep the Packers honest without putting the new starter in harm’s way every series.
How that balance looks on opening night will be the first real test of the Vikings’ plan with him.
