Justin Jefferson, Kyler Murray & Jordan Addison Value Rises in Fantasy Football After Murray Named Starter
Fantasy

Justin Jefferson, Kyler Murray & Jordan Addison Value Rises in Fantasy Football After Murray Named Starter

Kyler Murray has been named the Vikings' QB1 for 2026 — what does it mean for fantasy football?

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I’m shocked, I tell you.

Shocked.

The Minnesota Vikings apparently didn’t need to wait until the preseason, officially naming Kyler Murray their starting quarterback on Tuesday. It comes after the Vikings seemed to be giving J.J. McCarthy a legitimate shot at competing for the job, but this result felt inevitable since Murray was signed. 

Something had to change after McCarthy and Max Brosmer hindered the entire Minnesota passing attack last season. Over 21% of McCarthy’s pass attempts were deemed bad throws, the second-highest rate in the league, while his 58% completion rate was laughably low. But because of Kevin O’Connell’s track record with quarterbacks, we all bought into the potential of McCarthy in Minnesota once he was drafted. 

Will we fall for it again with Kyler?

MIN_vikings-logo.svgKyler Murray Fantasy Football Value As Vikings 2026 Starter

Murray missed most of his final season in Arizona due to injury, but when he was on the field, he still hinted at fantasy upside. He handled 11% of the designed rush attempts to go along with a 9% scramble rate. His 34.6 rushing yards per contest ranked fifth among quarterbacks last season, while rushing for at least 25 yards in all five starts. This past season was the first in Murray’s seven-year career where he failed to finish as top-12 QB on a PPG basis, so he clearly has the track record. 

So does O’Connell.

Nick Mullens, Joshua Dobbs, Sam Darnold, Kirk Cousins. All former quarterbacks under Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota. And all averaged 18+ PPG for either stretches or an entire season. Now enter Murray, who also offers way, way more rushing upside than any of those aforementioned signal callers. Our fantasy football projections are pretty high on Murray, as recent updates pencil him in as the QB10. Murray is projected for about 83 rushing attempts and if you look at the 54 quarterback seasons of at least 80 rush attempts since 2015, the average FPPG sits at 19.6. It will be a different offense for Murray, something he may still be getting used to. Since being drafted by the Cardinals in 2019, Murray ranks fifth in dropbacks out of the shotgun. But since O’Connell took over in Minnesota in 2022, the Vikings rank 28th in shotgun dropbacks. 

Given his fantasy track record and an awesome offensive infrastructure around him, Murray could easily return to top-12 status.

MIN_vikings-logo.svgJustin Jefferson & Jordan Addison Fantasy Football Value With Murray Named Starter

As for the Minnesota pass catchers, both Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison receive slight bumps in the fantasy football rankings. Poor quarterback play limited Jefferson to just 11.9 PPR PPG (28th) and two (!) receiving touchdowns. His 67.4% catchable target rate ranked 63rd among wideouts, but with just a competent signal caller, Jefferson still showcased his elite potential. In five games with Wentz under center, Jefferson averaged 10 targets, 6.8 receptions, 95.4 receiving yards and 16.3 PPR points per game. And the fantasy production is even more impressive when you consider Jefferson didn’t score a single touchdown during those games. Jefferson should benefit from the addition of Kyler Murray, who helped DeAndre Hopkins haul in 15 passes for 1,407 yards back in 2021. 

Addison, meanwhile, often gets overlooked, but he obviously suffered from the same issues as Jefferson a year ago. As a result, Addison averaged just 9.7 PPR PPG, placing him at WR44. But from 2023-24 (you know, in an actual competent offense), Addison averaged 13.5 PPR PPG, good for WR27 in fantasy. And in his four games alongside Wentz last year, he averaged 7.5 targets, 5.3 receptions, 77.3 receiving yards and 16 PPR PPG. Of course, once Wentz went down, this passing game cratered. From Week 9 on, Addison posted just a 64% catchable target rate, averaging just 7.1 points per game. 

If Murray can just be average, let alone good to great, Addison could easily crush his WR42 fantasy football ADP and WR45 consensus rank.

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. Kyler Murray
    KylerMurray
    QBMINMIN
    PPG
    16.2
    Proj
    303.1
  2. Justin Jefferson
    JustinJefferson
    WRMINMIN
    PPG
    9.4
    Proj
    219.3
  3. Jordan Addison
    JordanAddison
    WRMINMIN
    PPG
    8.2
    Proj
    143.9

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