While the Minnesota Vikings are currently 5-0, there are still a lot of questions about what the offense will end up being. The biggest questions are surrounding quarterback Kyler Murray. The important thing to remember is we only have three games of information to build upon, and that will make it a little more difficult to judge what the best path forward is.

Against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon, Murray had his best game of the season, completing 24-of-30 passes for 229 yards and one touchdown. He also ran the ball 10 times for 51 yards. Within that game, we can look at a multitude of elements to decipher what works best, and there is an intriguing layer of information that could change the projection of the offense.

Kevin O’Connell’s best approach for Kyler Murray is split

One of the biggest intrigues with the addition of Murray is how the Vikings would adapt Kevin O’Connell’s offense to him. There are a lot of moving parts to his offense, and, despite the narrative, O’Connell’s done a great job adapting to the skill sets of his quarterbacks.

Now that we have three games of data, trying to figure out what is best to maximize Murray. There has been a lot of talk about throwing it quickly and completing short passes to maximize what Murray can do for this offense. Those have become more prevalent for this offense, which has objectively worked, but is it the best path forwrad?

One thing with O’Connell’s offense has been taking shots down the field. He loves to attack 10-25 yards down the field with in-breaking routes. In order to do that, you need to hold onto the football for a long time. Per TruMedia, here are the numbers for Murray on throws over and under 2.5 seconds TTT excluding sacks, rushes, and throwaways.

Stat	Under 2.5 Seconds TTT	Over 2.5 Seconds TTT
Dropbacks	13	18
Completions	12	12
Attempts	13	16
Yards	99	130
Success Rate	61.5%	44.4%
EPA/Dropback	-0.55	0.24

It’s a really interesting data set to look at for multiple reasons. Murray did scramble seven times, which is going to impact his time to throw versus a standard dropback, but the explosiveness of the offense is significantly higher the longer Murray holds onto the football. Even so, the success of the offense dropped 17.1%.

Simply put: balance is going to be key for the Vikings finding a way to maximize Murray. Throwing short should continue to be a part of this offense moving forward, but how much do you want to sacrifice the explosive play potential, especially with just 18 available snaps with Murray, Justin Jefferson, and Jordan Addison all healthy?

So far this season, Murray is 8-15 for 153 yards and an interception throwing 10-19 yards down the field and 6-12 f0r 163 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception 20+ yards down the field. When they are looking to attack, they are finding ways to create plays. Once they get all of their weapons back, those plays will likely be more available to the Vikings, and they shouldn’t shy away from them. Striking a balance will be key for O’Connell.

Even so, moving the football and playing a ball control offense should continue to be a focus, because it’s working.