1 week ago
57
Kyler Murray's debut may steal the headlines, but there are a few other storylines to keep an eye on in Sunday's season opener against the Packers.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Kyler Murray era will officially begin Sunday when the Minnesota Vikings take on the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The former No. 1 overall pick signed with the Vikings back in March after spending seven seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He's been named to the Pro Bowl twice and was the league's top offensive rookie in 2019. However, injuries have hampered his production in two of the past three seasons, including missing all but five games last season with a foot injury.
With Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jauan Jennings, this will be the best receiving corps Murray has had to work with since perhaps 2022, when he had All-Pro receivers, DeAndre Hopkins and A.J. Green. He's also thrown to Larry Fitzgerald, who was recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but this will be the first time he's had an NFL Offensive Player of the Year catching his passes.
While Murray's debut will certainly be one of the main headlines Sunday, here are a few other storylines to keep an eye on:
Revamped rushing attack
The Vikings brought in Frank Smith from Miami to help revive the running game with a new scheme and a new approach. De'Von Achane had the fifth-most rushing yards (1,350) in the league last year with the highest yards-per-attempt average (5.7). Part of that success was because of Smith's run scheme, which the Vikings spent the offseason implementing.
Minnesota, which averaged 108.3 yards per game last season (23rd in the NFL), showed some flashes in the preseason, especially when the starting offensive line was on the field. Running backs Aaron Jones Sr. and Jordan Mason averaged 9 and 5.7 yards per carry, respectively, in the lone game they played in, beginning with an 18-yard burst on the game's first play.
Health will be another factor in Minnesota's ability to run the ball this year, but if the offensive line can stay together and Jones Sr. and Mason can stay fresh, there's a reasonable belief that the Vikings can improve their ground attack, starting Sunday.
Darrisaw's health
Speaking of healthy offensive linemen, left tackle Christian Darrisaw has said this is the healthiest he's felt since tearing his ACL and MCL midway through the 2024 season.
The former first-round pick had a solid training camp after spending much of last year on a snap count while he recovered from the knee injury. He also missed seven games, making it the second straight season he played in fewer than 600 snaps.
"Christian's been phenomenal as far as how he's playing, how he's taken to some new coaching points and techniques, fundamentals, and I think he's having fun playing football, which that's what I like to see is guys out there enjoying what they're doing, working on their craft, having some smiles out there whereas a lot of times last year, he's trying to work through things," Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. "It's hard to have a real positive outlook when not always feeling 100%, all those types of things. So, it's been great to see CD out there happy."
Harry's return
Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said safety Harrison Smith will play in Sunday's season opener, but he didn't elaborate on how much. The veteran safety was listed as the starting safety in the team's first unofficial regular-season depth chart, but that doesn't guarantee he'll see most of the snaps against Green Bay.
"He's just working through, kind of getting his cleats back underneath him. Don't know quite yet where we'll be at as far as availability for this week's game, but obviously it was a move made with clear-cut intentions on his, and when that begins will be when he's ready to go," O'Connell said.
Smith officially re-signed with the Vikings on Tuesday after an offseason of speculation about whether or not he would return for a 15th season.
"After our dialogue throughout the offseason and summer training camp … we continued talking about a lot of the things we talk about," O'Connell said. "Then, he let me know what his hopes and intentions were, and I was really excited about it."
Dallas Turner's turn
With Jonathan Greenard now in Philadelphia, the door is open for Dallas Turner to play a bigger role in the defense. Turner led the team in sacks a year ago, while playing 66% of the defensive snaps. The former No. 17 overall pick spent his first two seasons competing for snaps with Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, but he'll now have an opportunity to distinguish himself as one of the premier up-and-coming pass rushers in the league.
The former SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year had 6.5 sacks over the final eight games of the 2025 season, including two in the season finale against Green Bay. He also forced four fumbles throughout the year and hit the quarterback a total of 15 times.
