Chicago Bears vs Minnesota Vikings: 5 players to watch

Running Back: Latavius Murray

With Dalvin Cook being ruled out for the remainder of the 2017 with a torn ACL, which he suffered in Sunday’s loss to the Lions, Latavius Murray could play an important role moving forward. When the Vikings signed Murray to replace long time Viking and future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson, as originally planned he will now step in the lead running back role.

Certainly, in hindsight the team may have wished they never signed after the first few dominating weeks from Cook, but now with his injury LT will have to become the bell cow he was meant to be.

After spending the first three seasons of his career with the Oakland Raiders out on the west coast, Latavius signed a 3 year $15 million contract to come all the way to Minnesota. In Oakland, Murray was used as primarily a first and second down back with DeAndre Washington spelling him on 3rd down passing situations. That exact scenario is what will likely happen in Minnesota, with Jerick McKinnon coming in on third downs, just as he did when Adrian Peterson was on the team. Defensively, the Bears will have to keep an eye on Latavius Murray, as he brings sneaky speed despite being one of the bigger backs in the league.