Pro Football Rumors
The Vikings promised a “true competition” between incumbent starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy and veteran free agent addition Kyler Murray. They’ve stayed true to their word so far, splitting reps evenly between the two, and the results so far may be favoring the underdog in the position battle.
Coming into the Spring, Murray appeared to be the clear favorite to win the starting job in Minnesota. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft won Offensive Rookie of the Year and made Pro Bowls in both his second and third seasons in Arizona before injuries led to him plying 11 games or fewer in three of the team’s next four seasons. Over seven years with the Cardinals, Murray started every game he played but only appeared in 87 contests, going 34-48-1 as a starter.
Murray has struggled to establish himself as QB1 so far in Minnesota, making frequent mistakes early on. Shining early was always going to be a tough ask as Murray is coming into a new offense for the first time in seven years. Further hurting his chances at running away with the job early is the level to which Minnesota is splitting reps, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. Because Murray and McCarthy are splitting time so evenly, Murray isn’t getting near the snap share in practices that he’s used to, so progress is coming at a slower than expected rate.
“I definitely understand his difficulty of understanding some things,” star Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson said to reporters, “just because this offense is difficult…especially going against our defense. Seeing the different coverages, seeing the rolls, the disguises that our defense does is really going to help him out when the season comes, if he’s the starting quarterback…So I’m pretty sure that he’s going to get to that point where he knows (the offense) like the back of his hand and he’s calling plays freely.”
McCarthy came into the Spring as the clear underdog. Despite never surpassing 3,000 yards passing in his two seasons as the starter at Michigan, efficient quarterbacking and a National Championship victory helped McCarthy to hear his name called as the 10th player taken in 2024. McCarthy completed 72.3 percent of his passes in his final season as a Wolverine and threw 22 touchdowns in both 2022 and 2023, reducing his interceptions in those years from five to four, respectively. He entered the NFL in a QB competition with Sam Darnold and missed his entire rookie season when he tore his meniscus shortly after being declared the backup quarterback.
Finally able to debut in the NFL last year, McCarthy has been slow to impress. Though he went 6-4 as a starter, McCarthy only completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in 10 games. His early struggles and health issues led, in part, to the pursuit of Murray. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, McCarthy has shown improvement this Spring. Most notably, McCarthy has impressed coaches with his...
