Jerick McKinnon, Latavius Murray's Fantasy Outlook After Week 6

Jerick McKinnon proved his big Week 5 performance wasn't a fluke, as he helped the Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers 23-10 Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Whereas McKinnon's fantasy football value continues trending upward after Week 6, Latavius Murray's stock is heading in the opposite direction after he made little impact Sunday.

Jerick McKinnon

McKinnon was the game's leading rusher, finishing with 69 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. He also caught five passes for 30 yards and a touchdown. The NFL shared a replay of his touchdown reception:

ESPN.com's Mike Clay doesn't think the last two weeks are an aberration for the fourth-year running back:

The Pioneer Press' Chris Tomasson noted the game wasn't without some problem areas for McKinnon:

McKinnon told reporters after the game the fumbles have "been eating me alive."

"It's something I haven't done in the past," he said, per the Pioneer Press' Chad Graff. "For me, it's just about responding and making up for that mistake. Not for me, but for my teammates. Guys are fighting hard, and I put the ball on the ground. You can't do that. So I had to respond for those guys and get that off my shoulders."

Dalvin Cook's season-ending ACL injury opened the door for one of McKinnon or Murray to become Minnesota's feature back. McKinnon has firmly outplayed Murray over the last two weeks, and as a result, he's owned in 81 percent of Yahoo Sports standard leagues, according to Fantasy Pros.

Chances are, McKinnon isn't available on the waiver wire in your league. If he is, then you should add him as soon as possible.

Some level of skepticism about McKinnon's value was understandable coming into Week 6. He averaged 3.4 yards a carry while replacing Adrian Peterson in 2016. Following Sunday, he should be a regular inclusion in your starting lineup.

Latavius Murray

Murray had 15 carries for 28 yards and caught one pass for nine yards in Sunday's win.

Graff illustrated how Murray and McKinnon have had somewhat similar workloads over the last two weeks with significantly different results:

Dropping Murray altogether might be a little extreme. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry and had 91 receptions for 639 yards in his three years with the Oakland Raiders before signing with the Vikings prior to this season.

Murray hasn't fulfilled the promise he showed in Oakland, and it's doubtful he will become an elite running back in the NFL. At the same time, he's one injury away from becoming the Vikings' starter and boasts an established track record.

Murray is worthy of a roster spot if only to sit on the bench in case McKinnon gets hurt or suffers a significant drop in performance.