After a great performance in Week 15, Minnesota Vikings running back Ty Chandler is primed for another start, but head coach Kevin O’Connell isn’t quite ready to bring in Alexander Mattison.
With Mattison sidelined due to an ankle injury last week, Chandler enjoyed a coming-out party against the Cincinnati Bengals, amassing 132 rushing yards on 23 carries. For a team that is 23rd in the league in running yards this year, Chandler became the first Vikings player to reach 100 yards on the ground.
The play of the 2022 fifth-round pick enhanced the passing game, enabling the Vikings to surpass 400 total offensive yards for the first time since defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7.
For the remainder of the season, O’Connell didn’t seem to be sure that Chandler was a legitimate starting running back.
Ty is unquestionably a player that will continue to play a prominent role in our attack, O’Connell informed reporters on December 18. We’ll continue to work through what that means going forward in terms of who gets the first touch of the game and all those things based on what we are trying to accomplish scheme-wise.
If Mattison is out this week against the Detroit Lions, it doesn’t really matter if Chandler is labeled the RB1 because there aren’t many other realistic choices.
