Kent Bewley's News Story Collection

As the 2026 NFL training camp period continues towards the preseason, the Minnesota Vikings have made an important decision as to who will be their starting quarterback in Week 1 of the regular season. After a few weeks of competition between two worthy candidates, head coach Kevin O’Connell decided to make the decision before the Vikings’ preseason schedule begins with a road game against the New York Giants on Sat, Aug 15. Kyler Murray, after recently turning 29 years old, will be the starting QB in Minnesota in the opening week game against the Green Bay Packers on Sun, Sept 13 at U.S Bank Stadium. In spite of a valiant effort by J.J McCarthy in throwing more safe passes and not throwing too many interceptions in 7- on-7 practice reps and 11-on-11 reps as well, this job was clearly Murray’s to lose. With plenty of more seasons of experience than McCarthy, Murray will be the starter as long as he is healthy and efficient with a powerful offense featuring Justin Jefferson at the helm of it.

Murray was signed to a one-year contract with the Vikings following his release from the Arizona Cardinals, who still have to pay him a massive amount of money from his extended contract with them. Murray has shown flashes of greatness with Arizona as he produced four seasons with 3,000 passing yards in the first seven seasons of his career. Those four seasons also featured at least 20 touchdown passes in each of them along with 25 combined rushing touchdowns. As a dual-threat QB, Murray is as good as they come in the NFL despite his 5-10 frame and 207 lb weight. Kyler also led plenty of game-winning drives in his time with the Cardinals, having 13 of them so far in his seven-year career. Murray was also privileged to throw passes to some very elite targets in the desert, with Hall-of-Fame Class of 2026 inductee Larry Fitzgerald being one of them. Along with DeAndre Hopkins, Marvin Harrison Jr and James Connor(as a solid running back), Murray had some good pieces to work with. However, he only made it to the playoffs once in his time in Arizona and he floundered in his only career playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams. Murray also has suffered injury issues such as a torn ACL in Dec 2022 and a foot injury in the 2025 season that kept him out of the final 12 games for the Cardinals. Now in Minnesota, Murray looks to stay healthy for a Vikings team that has suffered through plenty of injuries to its offensive core in recent years.

McCarthy tried his best to make the “QB competition” competitive against Murray, with him doing the best in working with the first-team and second-team in training camp. In spite of his more conservative and cautious approach to passing the ball, McCarthy couldn’t overcome the public scrutiny that was directed at him due to him throwing more interceptions than touchdown passes in ten games last season. Injury woes also limited McCarthy’s potential and being turned into a meme after a triumphant victory over the Detroit Lions in Week 9 of last season only made matters worse when McCarthy had a horrid three-game stretch afterwards where he threw only two touchdown passes and six interceptions. McCarthy did a bit better in a couple of his final starts last season, but the Vikings fell short of the playoffs at 9-8 and with a lack of productive connection towards Jefferson, McCarthy was under immense pressure to improve. When Murray was signed in March, that put more pressure on J.J to secure his job. There have been rumors that the Vikings could trade McCarthy to a place where he can develop himself better, but J.J still holds a lot of value as a backup and can hopefully work well with the second-unit offense in the three preseason games on the Vikings’ schedule.

Meanwhile, Murray will have access to a retooled offense that features Jauan Jennings as a new addition to the wide receiver room in joining Jefferson and Jordan Addison as a strong trio. Along with T.J Hockenson and Josh Oliver as a strong tight end duo, Murray will have the convenience of handing the ball off to three capable running backs on any given snap. Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason are both back on this roster, but rookie RB Demond Claiborne could have some reps if Jones or Mason are limited due to an injury. Along with rookie fullback Max Bredeson, Murray will also have an offensive line that returns four of its five starters from the previous season. Injuries plagued the structure of the O-Line last season as Christian Darrisaw was limited due to continued recovery from an ACL/MCL tear that he suffered in Oct 2024 and Brian O’Neill had some knee issues as well. But those two tackles have worthy backups in case they are hobbled, with rookie tackle Caleb Tiernan and free agent acquisition Ryan Van Demark as good options. Along with Donovan Jackson and Will Fries as the guards and Blake Brandel as the starting center, Murray will hopefully have the tools to work comfortably in tight game situations with the Vikings, who, along with a defense rejuvenated with rookie draft picks, seek to win their first NFC North division title since 2022.

With the QB competition seemingly decided, the Minnesota coaching staff can now turn their focus towards determining the structure of the rest of the roster. Getting the roster down to 53 men will not be easy, as there are plenty of backups competing for valuable spots on the roster. Some of those cut will be kept on the practice squad while others will have to find work elsewhere. With one month until the first game of the regular season, the Vikings are set with a QB1 on their depth chart. Hopefully the decision bodes well for a franchise all too used to QB changes on an almost yearly basis for the past 50-plus years.