![\"Kyler](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/kyler-murray-arizona-cardinals_2908f7.jpg\")
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(Photo by Justin Edmonds\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Minnesota Vikings<\/a> will determine their starting QB for Week 1 via a competition between Kyler Murray, J.J. McCarthy, and Carson Wentz. Nonetheless, many expect Murray to win this competition and be QB1 for the Vikings, who are looking for a bounce-back season.<\/p>\n Minnesota will be counting on Murray to elevate their QB play this upcoming 2026 NFL<\/a> season after missing the playoffs the previous campaign due to the performance under center. <\/p>\n As for Murray, he is looking for a fresh start after the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> chose to cut ties with him this offseason. If Murray comes out on top in QB1, as many predict, former NFL player and ESPN radio host Chris Canty sees the Vikings as a dark horse to reach the NFC title game. <\/p>\n \u201cIf Kevin O\u2019Connell can live up to the reputation of being a quarterback whisperer, if he can make it work with Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy is the outlier, then all of a sudden, this could be a team that wins a dozen or more games, contends for a division title, and goes on a deep playoff run,\u201d Canty said on the April 17 edition of \u201cUnsportsmanlike with Evan, Canty and Michelle.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThey absolutely have that on the board. Kyler Murray could have, you know, the Sam Darnold-like turnaround. That roster is good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Vikings Only Need Kyler Murray to Make Timely Plays in 2026<\/p>\n Moreover, Canty believes the Vikings don\u2019t need Murray to be an extraordinary player; they just need him to make timely plays, given the high expectations for the defense after how the group finished last season. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is just a matter of making sure that you have the right guy under center, competent quarterback play, and then when your team needs it, playmaking from that position,\u201d Canty added. \u201cKyler Murray has shown at different points in his career that he can do that. It is just a matter of the consistency, or lack thereof, for number one. <\/p>\n \u201cBut if he is able to be a better version of himself because of the partnership that he has with Kevin O\u2019Connell, then I think the Minnesota Vikings are one of those dark horse teams to get to the NFC Championship.\u201d<\/p>\n Last season with the Cardinals<\/a>, which was cut short by injury, Murray posted a 72.2 overall PFF grade<\/a>, ranking 22nd among 43 qualified quarterbacks. His 69.5 passing grade also placed 22nd at the position.<\/p>\n Across 195 dropbacks, he threw for 962 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. He logged four big-time throws and three turnover-worthy plays.\u00a0Murray also contributed on the ground, picking up 145 yards and one rushing touchdown. He finished with a 71.4 rushing grade, which ranked 15th among 30 qualified quarterbacks.<\/p>\n Lincoln Riley Doesn\u2019t Hold Back on Kyler Murray<\/p>\n Murray has flashed his potential, which made him the No. 1 pick in 2019. However, the 28-year-old has yet to put everything together to become a consistent top QB in the NFL.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, the Vikings received a positive message that they are getting a motivated Murray as the player\u2019s former college head coach, Lincoln Riley, expects big things from the QB.<\/p>\n \u201cWatch out for Kyler Murray in Minnesota,\u201d\u00a0Riley said on an April 17 appearance on \u201cThe Jim Rome Show.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u201cI love, love the pairing of him with Kevin O\u2019Connell. I think Kevin\u2019s fabulous. And watch out with those two together. It\u2019s going to be a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> 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<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Vikings\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Justin Edmonds\/Getty Images) The Minnesota Vikings will determine their starting QB for Week 1 via…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-869562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116428695223002310","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}