Minnesota Vikings News

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy continues to have some dynasty appeal, but he faces an uphill battle to earn immediate playing time. The Vikings brought in Kyler Murray to essentially light a fire under McCarthy, in hopes that he'll strengthen his candidacy for the starting role, either short-term or long-term. Although the Vikings are still optimistic that McCarthy can be their franchise quarterback for years to come, it's unlikely that he'll start right away in 2026, which means he lacks short-term fantasy appeal. He missed all of his rookie campaign in 2024, and he's coming off a frustrating 2025 campaign in which he totaled 1,632 passing yards, 15 total touchdowns, and 14 turnovers across 10 games. It's too early to consider dropping McCarthy in dynasty leagues, but we acknowledge that managers will need to exercise patience as they stash him on the bench while he occupies the backup role behind Murray.

Veteran quarterback Kyler Murray's time with the Arizona Cardinals came to an ugly end in 2025, as he struggled across five starts before suffering a foot injury that ultimately ended his season. However, the 28-year-old is healthy and ready to go entering 2026, and he landed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings over the offseason. While Murray is nominally in a quarterback competition with J.J. McCarthy in Minnesota, the widely held expectation is that Murray will assume the team's QB1 role. With the Vikings, Murray will work with a play-caller in Kevin O'Connell who has orchestrated multiple successful quarterback reclamation projects. Murray also has a pair of excellent wide receivers to throw to in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. While Murray's career has taken a turn for the worse in recent seasons, he still carries high-end dual-threat fantasy upside. Across 17 games in 2024, Murray threw for 3,851 yards and 21 touchdowns while rushing for 572 yards and five scores. If he can stay on the field in 2026, he has a golden opportunity to revitalize his career with the Vikings.

Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. is trending in the wrong direction as he prepares for his age-31 season. Injuries limited Jones to 12 games last year, and it marked the second time in three seasons that he missed at least five weeks. The veteran ball-carrier finished the 2025 campaign with 548 rushing yards, 199 receiving yards, and three touchdowns. He finished as the RB41 in PPR leagues, which was his worst mark since his rookie season in 2017. While being healthy for 2026 will help his stock a little, Jones is losing dynasty appeal as he gets older and his role shrinks. Jones no longer has control over the lead-back role in Minnesota. At best, he's splitting touches with Jordan Mason, and we also can't rule out the possibility that Mason takes over the starting job. Jones has always been a capable pass-catcher, so that will keep him relevant in PPR leagues for a little while, but the trajectory is unfavorable. Jones has fallen to RB53 in RotoBaller's latest dynasty fantasy football rankings.

Vikings wide receiver Jauan Jennings finished as a top 30 fantasy receiver in each of his past two seasons with the 49ers, but in signing a one-year deal with Minnesota well after the opening stages of free agency, his path to another WR3 finish is notably more clouded. Jennings' best year came in 2024 when a mid-season injury to Brandon Aiyuk and the precipitous drop-off of former All-Pro Deebo Samuel allowed him to lead the team in targets and end the year with a career-high 975 receiving yards. In Minnesota, he'll be playing alongside one of the league's premier receivers in Justin Jefferson and an upper-echelon WR2 in Jordan Addison, and an argument can also be made that his quarterback play will take a step back, even if Kyler Murray claims the starting job as expected. While in Arizona, Murray has only once supported his number one wide receiver to a top 25 fantasy season, and the top result he's ever gotten from a secondary receiver was A.J. Green's WR40 finish in 2021. With Jennings potentially running as the third receiver in Minnesota, it's likely he'll be a better real-life than fantasy player in 2026, and with the market already cooler on him than he seemed to anticipate, he'll test free agency one more time in 2027, but on the cusp of turning 30. At RotoBaller's dynasty WR65, he can still provide usable depth in the face of bye weeks and injuries, but it's likely his best fantasy days are behind him.

Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson has been disappointing in recent years, and it appears that trend could continue in 2026. Hockenson had a modest 51 catches last season, resulting in just 438 yards and three touchdowns. He has been the TE26 or worse in each of his last two seasons, and he has just three touchdowns over his last 28 regular-season games dating back to 2023. Part of the reason for Hockenson's struggles could be a crowded receiver room of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, but more likely, poor quarterback play can be blamed. J.J. McCarthy played in just 10 games last year, and even when he was healthy, he had more interceptions than passing touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Vikings brought in quarterback competition in Kyler Murray, but his track record of supporting fantasy tight ends isn't great. Trey McBride was the TE10 in standard leagues with Murray healthy last year, and he jumped to TE1 once Murray went down with an injury. It seems like neither McCarthy nor Murray is capable of getting Hockenson back to his pre-2024 form, which consistently saw him rank among the top five fantasy tight ends. His track record is too strong to drop him in dynasty leagues, but he's certainly not startable anytime soon. He should be stashed on the end of the bench in most formats.

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison had an underwhelming 2025 season. In addition to missing the first three games of the year due to a suspension, he turned in the worst statistics of his career as he caught just 42 passes for 610 yards and three touchdowns across 14 games. It was the first time in Addison's three-year career that he ranked lower than WR23 in PPR leagues. The frustrating 2025 season has prompted some managers to explore trading Addison in dynasty leagues. While we're not overly optimistic about a quarterback room featuring J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray, we do expect to see more consistent, quality quarterback reps from McCarthy and Murray than what we saw from Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer last year. Video from voluntary workouts shows that Murray, the projected starter, has quickly built a rapport with Addison, so perhaps that's a reason for optimism. Jefferson is still the alpha receiver here, but the 2023 and 2024 seasons showed that Jefferson and Addison can co-exist on the fantasy radar. Addison ranks as the WR30 in RotoBaller's latest dynasty fantasy football rankings, and he has sneaky value as a potential buy-low candidate in trades ahead of the 2026 season.

Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason was a popular breakout candidate after the team acquired him from San Francisco in the 2025 offseason, but he was a top-20 fantasy back in only two weeks and finished the year as the RB35. His 4.8 yards per carry, while representing the lowest mark of his career, was still solid, but he never saw the volume needed to sustain fantasy success. With Aaron Jones missing five games, Mason exceeded 15 carries only twice all season, and even then, topped out at 16. Seven times, he was held to single-digit attempts. The Vikings spent a sixth-round pick on running back Demond Claiborne in the 2026 NFL, but at only 5'10" and 195 pounds, he's more likely to impact Jones' role on third downs, while Mason should remain the early-down thumper. With a healthier offensive line and improved quarterback play, his second season with the Vikings could be marginally more productive even if his role remains largely unchanged. At 27 years old, Mason is RotoBaller's dynasty RB52, and while the breakout calls have quieted, he is still capable of playing out the final year of his contract as an occasional flex option with notable insurance upside.

Minnesota Vikings running back Demond Claiborne might not contribute right away, but he has long-term upside in dynasty fantasy football leagues. The Vikings selected Claiborne, a Wake Forest product, in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Across his final two years in the ACC, he totaled 1,956 rushing yards, 51 catches, 394 receiving yards, and 23 total touchdowns. He'll face much tougher defenses in the NFL, but it was encouraging to see him produce at such a high level while routinely facing Power 4 programs. In Minnesota, he'll initially slot in behind Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason, and perhaps Zavier Scott. However, Jones is likely headed into his final year with the Vikings, and Scott's job isn't guaranteed, so there could be a path for Claiborne to eventually take over as the No. 2 running back behind Mason. Because of that potential trajectory, Claiborne is a worthwhile selection in the early to middle portion of the third round of fantasy football rookie drafts.

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson reached the 1,000-yard mark for the sixth straight season to begin his NFL career in 2025, but he had a career-low 1,048 yards with only two touchdowns in 17 starts as the team's quarterback play deteriorated following the departure of Sam Darnold in free agency last offseason. Former first-rounder J.J. McCarthy missed nine games due to injuries last year and was a disaster in terms of accuracy and consistency while leading the Vikings' offense, which led to a WR25 finish for Jefferson in half-PPR scoring. The 26-year-old's arrow was pointing down in dynasty fantasy football leagues until the Vikings signed former Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray to take over under center in 2026. The four-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro's fantasy stock is now back on the rise, and his buy-low window is closing fast. Murray is a definite upgrade over McCarthy, but fantasy managers should automatically expect Jefferson to return to elite WR1 territory in redraft leagues in 2026. Jefferson is ranked as the WR4 in RotoBaller's dynasty rankings.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy was drafted with the 10th overall pick in 2024 out of Michigan as the team's next franchise signal-caller. He missed his entire rookie season in 2024, though, due to a meniscus injury in his knee that required surgery. The Vikings were still confident he was their guy under center going into last year, however, and let Sam Darnold walk in free agency as a result. Not only did McCarthy disappoint in 2025 in his first full season as the Vikings' starter, but Darnold led the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots. The 23-year-old made only 10 starts in his first NFL action, completing 57.6% of his 243 pass attempts for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while taking 27 sacks. The Vikings quickly rethought their plan at QB this offseason and signed former first overall pick Kyler Murray. With Murray expected to open the 2026 campaign as the Vikings' starter, McCarthy's dynasty fantasy value has taken a massive hit, and he's now ranked as the No. 31 QB in RotoBaller's dynasty rankings. Murray isn't a lock to run with the starting gig in Minnesota -- his injury history is lengthy -- but McCarthy showed last year that he has plenty of developing to do still, and he may not get that opportunity again with the Vikings.

Quarterback Kyler Murray's dynasty stock reached an all-time low last year when he didn't play beyond Week 5 with the Arizona Cardinals due to a foot sprain. It was the beginning of the end of his time in Arizona after the Cardinals took him with the first overall pick in 2019 out of Oklahoma. Despite playing in a career-low five games and finishing as the QB38 last year, the 28-year-old's dynasty stock is surging back upwards after he was released and signed a one-year, $36.8 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings. He will take over as the starter in Minnesota over J.J. McCarthy, and although Murray hasn't played a full season in four of the last five years due to injuries, he's a rising dynasty target because of his landing spot. Murray will have arguably one of the best receiving corps to work with in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Jauan Jennings, not to mention tight end T.J. Hockenson. Murray should be asked to push the ball more down the field, and his high-end rushing upside will give him QB1 upside if he can stay on the field. He's in the best situation of his career. There is risk, but Murray has suddenly climbed up to the QB20 in RotoBaller's dynasty rankings going into 2026.

Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. missed five games in 2025 while struggling through hamstring, hip, and shoulder issues, but when healthy, he was still the team's preferred back on the field. He led first-year Viking Jordan Mason by nearly five offensive snaps and 12 yards from scrimmage per game. Minnesota was pegged as one of the most running back-needy teams heading into the 2026 NFL Draft, but they waited until late Day 3 to address the position, selecting Wake Forest's Demond Claiborne in the sixth round. While the 5'9", 195-pound rookie poses more of a threat to Jones than the 223-pound early down thumper Mason, the backfield is likely heading towards an even more ambiguous split. At 31 years old, Jones won't come close to approaching his former league-winning ceiling, but given his well-rounded skill set in both the run and pass games, he's still a safe bet to be the Vikings' most valuable back for fantasy. At RotoBaller's dynasty RB53, Jones is a low-cost add for contending managers seeking depth, with the understanding that, entering the final year of his current contract, he is unlikely to return value beyond 2026.

Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson was a popular bounce-back candidate after his 438 receiving yards in 2025 marked the lowest total since his rookie season. With the Vikings agreeing to a one-year deal on Thursday with former 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings, Hockenson's chances of a fantasy resurgence took a meaningful hit. While operating largely in the intermediate areas of the field over the past two seasons, Jennings has caught 132 passes for 1,618 yards and 15 touchdowns. Now surrounded by Jennings, Justin Jefferson, and Jordan Addison, Hockenson is unlikely to approach the 120+ targets of his glory days, but he is one more year removed from the ACL injury that ended his 2023 season, and the presence of Kyler Murray is expected to increase scoring opportunities for the entire Vikings offense. At RotoBaller's dynasty TE22 and falling, Hockenson could still provide usable fantasy depth, making him a worthwhile buy on the inevitable post-trade dip.

With the Minnesota Vikings agreeing to terms on a one-year deal with former 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings on Thursday, 2023 first-round pick Jordan Addison is now part of arguably the deepest receiver room of his young career. With veteran Adam Thielen heading to Carolina in the same year that Addison was drafted, the stiffest competition for targets behind two-time All-Pro Justin Jefferson has long been tight end T.J. Hockenson, with Minnesota running out K.J. Osborn and Jalen Nailor in the third receiver spot since 2023. With Nailor unable to top 29 receptions or 444 receiving yards in his time with the Vikings, Jennings represents a major upgrade, fresh off a 643-yard, nine-touchdown campaign, and only two years removed from career-highs of 77 receptions and 975 yards in 2024. Addison's receptions, yards, and touchdowns have all dropped year-over-year since entering the league, but with the team opting to pick up his fifth-year option in March, there is a clear belief that he can turn things back around. With improved quarterback play expected in 2026, Addison still has the home run ability to take over games, and he should enjoy enough spike weeks to make him a reliable fantasy asset despite the increased competition.

Wide receiver Jauan Jennings and the Minnesota Vikings have agreed to a one-year deal that will pay the former 49er up to $13 million in 2026. While missing two games in his final season with San Francisco, the 2020 seventh-round pick out of Tennessee recorded 643 yards and nine touchdowns, this after making a career-high 77 receptions for 975 yards in 2024. With Jennings reportedly expecting a more robust market for his services, the one-year prove-it deal will allow him to test free agency again in 2027. Meanwhile, after the team's third receiver, Jalen Nailor, agreed to a three-year, $35 million deal with the Raiders, the Vikings have arguably upgraded the position at a fraction of the cost. Jennings will round out a receiver room of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and 2025 third-round pick Tai Felton, creating an environment in which quarterback Kyler Murray could thrive while on a one-year deal of his own.

Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson turned in a disappointing season in 2025, recording 51 receptions for 438 yards and three touchdowns on 66 targets across 15 games. Like the rest of Minnesota's pass-catchers, Hockenson's numbers were impacted by a Vikings' offense that received subpar play at the quarterback position from the underwhelming combination of J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer. Minnesota added veteran signal-caller Kyler Murray over the offseason, and Murray should help stabilize the team's passing game in 2026. Still, Hockenson has now recorded just 893 receiving yards and three touchdowns across 25 games over the past two seasons. Since tearing his ACL late in the 2023 season, the soon-to-be 29-year-old has struggled to regain his peak form. While the upgraded quarterback play in Minnesota certainly improves Hockenson's outlook for 2026, his overall dynasty value is fading as he enters his eighth NFL season.

Following the trade that sent running back Jordan Mason to the Minnesota Vikings ahead of the 2025 season, the fourth-year back was pegged as a popular breakout candidate, rising all the way to RB24 in consensus dynasty rankings. By most metrics, Mason's first year in Minnesota was a disappointment. Even with Aaron Jones Sr. missing significant time, Mason was held to only 758 rushing yards and six touchdowns while the entirety of the Vikings' offense was held back by listless quarterback play. The Vikings have found at least a short-term fix at quarterback, bringing in Kyler Murray on a one-year deal, and while Minnesota was labeled as one of the more running back-needy teams entering the 2026 NFL Draft, the team waited until the sixth round of a weak class to address the position, selecting Demond Claiborne out of Wake Forest. At 5'9" and 195 pounds, Claiborne poses little threat to Mason's between-the-tackles early-down work. With both Mason and Jones in the final year of their contracts, the importance of the 2026 season for Mason's long-term dynasty value can not be overstated. He enters the season as RotoBaller's RB50, but that ranking could climb if Minnesota's offense can shake off a forgettable 2025 campaign.

Free-agent wide receiver Jauan Jennings is visiting with the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday night and Wednesday, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN. The 49ers moved on from Jennings after not finding common ground for a long-term extension. The 28-year-old's market has been ice-cold this offseason after he caught 55 passes for 643 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns in 15 regular-season starts in his fifth year in the NFL. Jennings has 15 touchdown receptions in the last two years and also set career-highs in catches (77) and receiving yards (975) in 15 games for the 49ers in 2024. The former seventh-rounder's high-point mark easily could have been the 2024 season. His production soared the last two seasons, with both Brandon Aiyuk (knee) and Ricky Pearsall missing extended time with injuries in the Bay Area. If Jennings were to land in Minnesota, his fantasy ceiling would be much lower behind both Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.

The Minnesota Vikings have selected Wake Forest running back prospect Demond Claiborne with the 198th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. The Vikings traded up to select Claiborne, acquiring the 198th pick from the New England Patriots in exchange for the 234th pick and a 2027 sixth-round selection. A multi-year contributor in the ACC, Claiborne tallied 1,956 rushing yards, 394 receiving yards, and 23 touchdowns over his last two seasons at school. With Aaron Jones Sr. presumably getting closer to his retirement, adding a young, depth running back makes sense for the Vikings. Claiborne and Zavier Scott will presumably compete to be active as the Vikings' No. 3 running back behind Jones and Jordan Mason in 2026.

The Minnesota Vikings have selected Michigan fullback/tight end prospect Max Bredeson with the 159th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Bredeson will mostly operate as a blocker and special teams contributor for the Vikings. He had zero carries and 12 receptions across five seasons at school, but PFF gave him an 85.2 grade in run blocking and a 78.1 grade in pass blocking last year. He'll be tasked with creating opportunities for players like Kyler Murray, Aaron Jones, and Jordan Mason, but he won't accrue much fantasy value himself. Bredeson can be avoided in all fantasy drafts.