Vikings name Kyler Murray starting quarterback
By Matthew Coller
EAGAN — Goodnight, sweet quarterback competition. It was fun while it lasted.
On Tuesday ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Vikings are naming Kyler Murray their starting QB.
Back when Murray signed with the Vikings in March, this outcome appeared inevitable.
At the NFL Combine, O’Connell pointed out that when the team has a “baseline of quarterback play” they have an impeccable record. Murray’s passer rating in 2024 was 93.5 and when the Vikings have ratings higher than 90 since 2022 they have won 31 out of 40 games. Last year they had only six such performances and won all six. In 2024, it happened 13 times and they won 11.
The Vikings have the roster to support quarterbacks in ways that are above and beyond other franchises. Before last season, Justin Jefferson turned every quarterback that he played with into an MVP passer when they targeted him. They may have the best No. 2/3 combination of receivers in the league and the best tackle combo when Christian Darrisaw is at 100%.
Let’s not forget that O’Connell was being dubbed the “QB Whisperer” after he won Coach of the Year and Brian Flores is the top defensive coordinator in football. We shouldn’t leave out the Vikings’ kicker Will Reichard from the supporting cast conversation either.
So the idea from the outset was to take a quarterback who had been under supported by his previous team, which ranked 30th in points allowed since 2023 and failed to replace DeAndre Hopkins as a superstar wide receiver, and give him a golden situation and hope for Darnold 2024-like results.
There is a lot of evidence that this type of thing can work to get teams into the postseason. Aaron Rodgers took Pittsburgh to 10 wins with solid QB play last year. Bo Nix ranked 17th by PFF grade and nearly made the Super Bowl. CJ Stroud’s Texans were right in the mix. Daniel Jones was 8-5 with the Colts. Bryce Young made the playoffs.
Everything lined up for the Vikings to take a swing at a reclamation project.
But going into training camp, O’Connell left the door open for JJ McCarthy to win the job.
Despite a very difficult first year, there were signs of life at the end of 2025 that allowed for the possibility that everything could come together for him to take a big step and prove that he’s the future franchise QB.
That was always going to be difficult in such a short amount of time though. While O’Connell gave McCarthy split reps from OTAs all the way through the night practice, it was only about seven total months that McCarthy had to turn things around that usually take years to perfect.
And it was going to take a very high bar for McCarthy to earn belief from the coaching staff. After struggling as much as he did with inaccuracy, sacks, turnovers and command of the offense, he would have needed to absolutely wow them. That did not happen.
If this were a different situation, the progress that McCarthy did show in order to keep the competition going on this long would have been enough to give him a chance. But something that O’Connell said at the Combine rang throughout this competition: “The timeline has changed.”
The Vikings have a strong roster that has looked good so far in camp. There are young players who are beginning to make an impact and veteran players who have proven that they can win when given the opportunity. A team with players like Brian O’Neill and Andrew Van Ginkel doesn’t have time to see what they have in a young quarterback.
O’Connell doesn’t either. While he has proven to be a winning coach and turned the Vikings’ culture into something that is revered around the NFL, there are realities to the Not For Long league. Most coaches don’t get five years without playoff wins. Most coaches don’t get to botch a QB decision in epic fashion. He understands that this ownership hasn’t been wildly patient with head coaches after playoff-less seasons in the past.
Murray was brought here to win now. The early returns of his training camp have suggested that he both has the accuracy and mobility to play winning football with the Vikings and that he needs all the reps to get on the same page with O’Connell and the offense before they play the Packers.
Now was the right time to give him the job. No more stress from the rest of the team wondering who their leader for 2026 is going to be and no more adjusting every third rep to a different signal caller.
Murray will get his chance at redemption. He’s been called every name in the book after failing to take the Cardinals to the promised land and now he’s going to have his shot with a competent franchise to make good on the talent that he’s been blessed with.
McCarthy’s future is more murky after this. The Vikings could trade him if they could get good compensation and feel that he would be better suited getting a chance to play elsewhere. Or they could keep him as their backup and have him be prepared in case Murray gets injured.
From McCarthy’s perspective, he would be best served looking at this summer as a good opportunity to grow. He has a long road ahead of him if he chooses to keep battling to improve every day. Plenty of quarterbacks have taken the winding path to success like Geno Smith, Ryan Tannehill and Baker Mayfield.
If we look back at the obstacles that have fallen in his path — whether it was playing in a run-first offense in college or getting hurt in his first camp or having 14-win expectations on his shoulders or the injuries from 2025 — they have made life more difficult than if he had been healthy and had things go the right way. We’ll never know what would have happened if his knee didn’t need surgery in 2024.
What we do know is that the story doesn’t have to end here. With how unpredictable the quarterback position is, he might be right back in the game by the first quarter of the season. Who knows.
It does feel like the ball is in his court now. Some QBs give up after a setback. I don’t think he will be one of them.
From a team perspective, the Vikings have their QB, they have clear expectations and they face the toughest division in football. If they are going to make a serious run at it, Murray will need to perform more consistently than he ever has and KOC will need a more complete offense than he’s ever had and other things will need to go their way like health, luck and the schedule.
But we’ve seen this story many times in Vikings history. While fans might be tired of the veteran QB from elsewhere, Murray is the quarterback now and he has an opportunity to join the ranks of Randall Cunningham, Jeff George and Brett Favre who showed everybody that there was more there than previously believed.
One thing you can say about the Vikings is that it’s always interesting and you can bet the Murray Vikings will be too.
Off we go…
Since the end of the year, this has been handled really, really well. The QB room needed upgrading--which is much easier said than done--and it was, for peanuts no less. Murray has the best chance of his career to shine, at a point when his career is at a huge fork in the road. We'll see what he does with the opportunity.
Moving on from Darnold didn't work out, to put it mildly. But, some of us are old enough to remember the '99 Vikings. They actually won a playoff game, before getting crunched by the Greatest Show on Turf. Moss and Carter had 1400/11 and 1200/13 (and when the passing rules were much different). The team still moved on from its nomadic veteran QB coming off a career year (and again, an actual playoff win) for the guy who was drafted 11th overall. The 2000 Vikes were in the NFC game.
It's too bad that JJMC isn't a starting NFL QB, but drafting is really hard. It's a very good thing that the team accepted reality and acted accordingly, rather than deluding itself.
As surprising as the end of a marvel movie