The Minnesota Vikings won't name a starting quarterback until sometime during training camp. The earlier it happens, the better, though, obviously, so whoever it is can get all the work with the rest of the starting offense.
At this point, it would be an upset if Kyler Murray is not the Week 1 starter under center for the Vikings. The question is whether it stays that way all season, by whatever means, which would lead to J.J. McCarthy getting a chance.
On his early-July list of 10 bold fantasy predictions for this year, on the assumption he wins the job, Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report has Murray finishing as a top-five quarterback.
"In Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jauan Jennings, Murray would have the best weapons of his career at his disposal. O'Connell turned Darnold from an afterthought to the seventh-ranked quarterback in fantasy points two years ago."
"And in his best season (2020), Murray threw for 3,971 yards, ran for 819 more and had more fantasy points than any quarterback in the NFC."
Davenport acknowledged how bold the prediction may seem, since Murray has not yet been named the Vikings' starting quarterback. But that's a minor detail, as he is poised to step into what's clearly the best situation he has had in his career.
Kyler Murray's upside as the Vikings' QB hasn't been acknowledged everywhere (at least for now)
By fantasy points per game, at minimum, Murray was a top-10 quarterback in each of his first six seasons. He has only finished as a top-five fantasy quarterback in a season once, though, when he was QB2 during the 2020 campaign, Davenport mentioned.
If he starts every game, it feels like you can book Murray to finish as a top-10 fantasy signal caller this year. And if you want to go a little further as Davenport did, you don't have to work that hard to see the potential for a top-five finish.
Yet, according to Fantasy Pros and Fantasy Football Calculator, Murray is QB17 or QB19, respectively, by Average Draft Position (ADP) right now. So you can draft him as your QB2 and take virtually no risk to potentially reap big rewards.
If (when?) Murray is named the starter; his fantasy ADP will climb automatically. How much it will climb is to be determined, of course, but a push into starter territory in 12-team leagues is hardly out of the question.
So, if the opportunity may come for some fantasy managers at this point, now is the time to get Murray in a draft before his circumstances change.
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