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(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
The Minnesota Vikings are having a QB battle to determine who will be the team’s starting signal-caller in Week 1. It will be a three-way battle between J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Kyler Murray.
While no snap is taken yet, Murray appears to be the favorite to win the job. Nonetheless, he will need to go out and prove it during practice and the preseason that the former No. 1 pick is the guy to help the Vikings get back to the postseason.
On March 31, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke on “PFT Live” about the looming QB battle and how he will handle it, stating it will be an open competition.
“We’re going to go through the offseason program,” O’Connell said. “I’ve always looked at that as kind of the learning and teaching phase. There’s a lot of individual player improvement plans being activated all over the field, whether it’s technique, fundamentals, or continuing to gain that mastery of the system. But at the same time, for our team as a whole, our offense in 2026 may look different…
“Everybody’s going to get an opportunity, and we’re going to allow these guys to hopefully elevate their own personal level of play. For a guy like Kyler, it’s about seeing where he can go at this point in his career. He’s had some really great moments in this league, and now he’s in a pretty good system, with some great players to throw the football to. J.J.’s played 10 games, so we at least have some inventory of what it can look like. From here, it’s going to come down to consistency, being the truest measure of performance.”
Vikings HC Will Be Honest With All Three QBs
Moreover, O’Connell noted that as the competition gets underway, he intends to be transparent with the three QBs to ensure they know where each stands.
“I would say this: The communication and the transparency,” O’Connell added. “This is what it’s going to be today, this week, over the course of our nine OTAs and minicamp. This is what it’s going to look like, and that’s going to set the table for what training camp looks like. I just know, as a former player, I want to be communicated to in an honest way.
“I want it to be something where I know exactly what I’m walking into every single day, and I want to be challenged to not only make my reps matter, but hopefully those reps will equal more opportunity if I show that consistency and that growth that we need all of our players, not just our quarterbacks, to show this offseason.”
Cardinals HC Talks About Kyler Murray’s Exit
After a foot injury ended his 2025 season, the Arizona Cardinals decided it was time for both parties to part ways. On March 30, the team’s new head coach, Mike LaFleur, spoke about Murray’s exit from Arizona.
“It’s one of those things that sometimes it’s just good for both parties to part ways, if you will,” LaFleur told reporters (h/t Bo Brack of PHNX Cardinals). “So again, we wish him the best. He had a lot of success here.
“I know when I was on the other sideline, [Murray] was a problem. And again, wish him all the success, but we felt like this was the best thing moving forward.”
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
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