Carson Wentz Is Worth Starting Again in Minnesota

Kyler Murray was still in the NFL's concussion protocol as of this week. Minnesota was not saying when, or if, he would clear it in time for Sunday's game at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Murray left the Vikings' opener against Green Bay early in the first quarter after taking a hit to the head on a scramble. He walked off on his own power, but he did not return. Coach Kevin O'Connell called it day-to-day and said the team would lean on the medical staff for word on his status.

Carson Wentz took the rest of that game and made the most of it. He finished 12 of 19 for 133 yards and three touchdown passes, a 123.5 passer rating. Minnesota trailed 22-10 in the third quarter when Wentz hit tight end T.J. Hockenson for a 16-yard touchdown, and the Vikings pulled away from there to a 39-22 win. Minnesota is 1-0. So are the Bears, who beat Carolina 59-37 in a game that leaned hard on offense from both sides and light on stopping anybody.

O'Connell said afterward he has full confidence in Wentz. "The moment isn't too big for him," the coach said, pointing to Wentz's 11 years in the league. Minnesota is now expected to start him again Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Bears.

For fantasy rosters, Justin Jefferson's production doesn't change much either way. He caught 8 passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns with Wentz throwing him the ball, his best single game since 2024. Last season, over five starts by Wentz during a J.J. McCarthy injury, Jefferson caught 34 passes on 50 targets for 477 yards. Wentz finds him, whoever else is or isn't on the field for Minnesota.

Hockenson is a piece of that too. He was healthy enough to catch a third-quarter touchdown in Week 1, and Wentz looked his way when the first read wasn't there.

As for Wentz himself as a streaming option, Chicago's defense gives a reason to try him. The Bears allowed 37 points, 478 total yards and 361 of it through the air to Carolina in that opener.

Defensive end Montez Sweat said as much afterward: "You're not going to win a lot of games like that, with allowing 400 passing yards and 40 points." That is the unit Wentz gets in Week 2, and a quarterback who threw three touchdowns off the bench four days ago is worth a roster spot against it.

Murray's outlook is murkier. He has not been ruled out, and he has not been cleared. Vikings fans have seen this movie before, a backup quarterback playing well enough to matter, and Wentz is the one running the huddle in Chicago until the medical staff says otherwise.