Murphy Jr. is doing so well that he is the first Vikings cornerback with an interception in three straight games since 1992.
The secondary has led the Vikings’ defense this year during their great start through 10 weeks of the season. One of those leaders on defense is cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who is on a special run as of late, and it has him in unique company.
Murphy Jr. is doing so well that he is the first Vikings cornerback with an interception in three straight games since 1992.
Audray McMillian, in 1992, was the last Vikings cornerback to have such a run. Only two other players, Carl Lee in 1988 and Issiac Holt in 1986, had longer stretches. Lee did it for five games in a row, and Holt did it for four straight games.
Murphy Jr. has joked that he wants to get to 10 interceptions in 2024, but he currently has just four. He is going to have to break a Vikings record to hit that 10 mark or double up in a couple of games.
From Justin Jefferson to Harrison Smith, these six Minnesota Vikings could have their contracts adjusted to create salary cap space.
The Minnesota Vikings’ competitive rebuild approach has been a major talking point among analysts. Why not just tear it down and rebuild from the ground up? Well, if you haven’t been paying attention, they did that while winning 20 games over the last two seasons.
In order to keep things moving in the right direction, the Vikings will need to continue adjusting the cap to meet their needs. The salary cap just went up $30 million, a near 14% increase year over year, something that hasn’t been seen prior to this season.
If they want to create even more cap space to make a huge splash in free agency, they absolutely can do that. What contracts could be modified to fulfill that goal? These six players can have their contracts modified in different ways to create cap space in 2024.
From Jayden Daniels & Michael Penix Jr. to Laiatu Latu, the latest 2024 NFL Mock Draft Rouondup for the Minnesota Vikings is mostly defense
Mock draft season is upon us and that means our mock draft roundup is back!
What we do every week is track the mainstream outlets mock drafts and aggregate how many times a player gets selected. Last season, we tallied up 545 mock drafts and that included a whopping 54 different players. With the Minnesota Vikings set to pick 11th overall, there will be a lot of discussions surrounding the quarterbacks in this draft along with trading up.
We will track them and try to determine trends and patterns, along with giving my own analysis on how they could fit with the Vikings.
The final Pro Football Focus grades for the Minnesota Vikings defense shed light on a unit that over achieved due to scheme.
With the first weekend of the 2023 NFL playoffs now complete, we are looking back on the season that was for the Minnesota Vikings.
Despite a 7-10 record, the Vikings played well during the 2023 season. The defense improved from 31st in the National Football League to 16th in a very impressive turnaround. The scoring defense also improved to 13th in the NFL, which would have easily been top 10 in the league if it weren’t for the unit imploding at the end of the season.
There is a lot of hope for the future, as the unit was overall really good despite having a talent void.
The final grades from Pro Football Focus are in and reflect a unit that played well despite their late-season struggles.
The extent of Murphy Jr.’s injury isn’t good but he should be just fine for 2024
The Minnesota Vikings have dealt with injuries all season and we now have some clarity on the injury to cornerback Byron Murphy Jr.
According to The Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer, Murphy told him that he suffered a grade three MCL sprain on the third play of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He played with the injury but didn’t practice or play since.
This makes all the sense in the world. Murphy hasn’t practiced once since the injury occurred and missed the final three games of the season. Usually, a grade three MCL sprain takes at least six weeks to heal, so Murphy playing nearly a full game after the injury is an impressive feat.
Knowing about what the injury is, Murphy should be just fine heading into offseason workouts and ready to go for week one.
Darrisaw joins the injury report for Sunday’s game against the Lions
The Minnesota Vikings added one player to the injury report for week 18 against the Detroit Lions. That player is left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who didn’t practice due to illness.
CB Byron Murphy Jr. (knee): Did not practice
WR Jalen Nailor (concussion): Did not practice
RT Brian O’Neill (ankle): Did not practice
DE Jaquelin Roy (ankle): Did not practice
LT Christian Darrisaw (illness): Did not practice
CB Mekhi Blackmon (shoulder): Limited
RG Ed Ingram (shoulder): Limited
S Theo Jackson (toe): Limited
TE Nick Muse (knee): Limited
S Harrison Smith (shoulder): Limited
The illness distinction is a difficult one as it can mean a lot of different things. Oftentimes, players with illness designations end up missing the game.
Another element at play is both Murphy and Nailor continuing to not practice. Don’t be surprised if the Vikings place Nailor on injured reserve on Friday and sign someone like Trishton Jackson or Lucky Jackson to the active roster to preserve them for the offseason program.
Friday’s injury report will tell us much more about who will and won’t play on Sunday afternoon.
The Minnesota Vikings released their first injury report on Wednesday afternoon and it has nine players on it.
The Minnesota Vikings released their first injury report ahead of their week 18 matchup against the Detroit Lions and it has nine players on it.
CB Byron Murphy Jr. (knee): Did not practice
WR Jalen Nailor (concussion): Did not practice
RT Brian O’Neill (ankle): Did not practice
DE Jaquelin Roy (ankle): Did not practice
CB Mekhi Blackmon (shoulder): Limited
RG Ed Ingram (shoulder): Limited
S Theo Jackson (toe): Limited
TE Nick Muse (knee): Limited
S Harrison Smith (shoulder): Limited
Once again, both Murphy and Nailor didn’t practice. They have missed the last two and three games, respectively, due to injury. O’Neill being on the report is likey due to wanting to rest his injured ankle, as he already played last week against the Green Bay Packers.
Muse, Smith and Ingram are all new additions to the report. Ingram left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury. The progress throughout the week will determine whether or not they play on Sunday.
Byron Murphy Jr. and Brian O’Neill highlight the Minnesota Vikings inactives
The Minnesota Vikings released their inactive list ahead of Sunday afternoon’s game against the Detroit Lions.
CB Byron Murphy Jr.
TE Nick Muse
G Chris Reed
RT Brian O’Neill
WR Jalen Nailor
QB Josh Dobbs (emergency third QB)
The biggest miss here is O’Neill. He suffered an ankle injury against the Las Vegas Raiders and has only practiced once. The hope is that he will be ready next week against the Packers.
Both Nailor and Murphy were known to be out on Friday’s injury report. Harrison Phillips, Jordan Hicks, Alexander Mattison, Ivan Pace Jr. and Jonathan Bullard are all active despite being listed as questionable.
Danielle Hunter and Harrison Phillips highlight the initial injury report
The Minnesota Vikings have a lengthy injury report heading into their week 16 winter whiteout game against the Detroit Lions. Their practice was a walkthrough so the report is an estimation.
OLB Danielle Hunter (illness): Did not practice
RB Alexander Mattison (ankle): Did not practice
CB Byron Murphy Jr. (knee): Did not practice
WR Jalen Nailor (concussion): Did not practice
RT Brian O’Neill (ankle): Did not practice
NT Harrison Phillips (back): Did not practice
DE Jonathan Bullard (ankle): Limited
NT Sheldon Day (ankle): Limited
ILB Jordan Hicks (shin): Full
The holdovers from last week are Nailor, O’Neill and Mattison. All three of them not practicing is important in their attempt to come back.
Hunter is the one to keep an eye on, as an illness is something that is difficult to measure and predict.
Murphy and Phillips are both new and didn’t appear to be injured against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Hicks returned to practice after having his practice window open up this past Monday. There is real optimism he can play on Sunday afternoon.
The Lions have eight players listed on their initial injury report.
CB Jerry Jacobs (hamstring): Did not practice
TE Brock Wright (hip): Did not practice
LB Derrick Barnes (shoulder): Limited
FB Jason Cabinda (knee): Limited
DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson (knee): Limited
DT Levi Onwuzurike (knee): Limited
RT Penei Sewell (shoulder): Limited
C Frank Ragnow (knee/back/toe): Full
The reports on Thursday and Friday afternoon will tell us more about the status of each player.
