Minnesota's quarterback competition has a leader, and it isn't the guy they drafted 10th overall. Kyler Murray, cut loose by Arizona and signed by the Vikings on a one-year, league-minimum deal this offseason, has reportedly separated himself from J.J. McCarthy heading into the season — and the front office sounds ready to make it official soon.
ESPN's Dan Graziano relayed the state of the race, and it's not close. "It's sounds like the Vikings are getting close to making a decision in terms of this competition, it also sounds like Murray's been the guy in the lead," Graziano said, in a clip making the rounds.
That tracks with what's reportedly happening on the practice field. Through the first several padded practices of camp, Murray has been getting roughly two-thirds of the first-team reps in 11-on-11 work, flashing touch on deep crossers and posts while getting comfortable working under center — not exactly his calling card in Arizona. McCarthy, meanwhile, has spent more time running the show against Minnesota's second-team defense, and the returns haven't been pretty: overthrows in red-zone drills and an interception thrown to cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. have shown up in camp reports.
It's a stunning turn for McCarthy, who the Vikings took 10th overall in the 2024 draft to be the long-term answer at the position. His rookie-year debut in 2025 was rough — 11 touchdowns against 12 interceptions across 10 starts — even though he closed the year on a stronger note, completing 64.3% of his passes with 5 touchdowns and just 2 picks over his final 4 games. That late flash was supposed to be a springboard. Instead, it's Murray, a quarterback with far more starting experience, who's taken the inside track after Minnesota moved on from GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the exec who drafted McCarthy in the first place — and with him, some of the organizational pressure to hand the job back to the kid.
None of this is decided yet. Kevin O'Connell's staff still has practices left before the preseason opener, and competitions like this have a way of tightening up once the pads really start flying and cut-down deadlines loom. But if the reporting matches what's showing up on the practice field, Minnesota may be walking into Week 1 with a veteran under center instead of the quarterback they spent a top-10 pick on just two years ago.