With The Vikings Announcing Murray As The Starter, What Happens To J.J. McCarthy Now?

When the Minnesota Vikings grabbed Kyler Murray during the offseason, most fans and NFL insiders assumed he would be the starting quarterback going into the 2026 season.

The Vikings leadership maintained through the offseason and in the early part of training camp that it was a legitimate quarterback competition between J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray to earn the starting job.

Adding an interesting wrinkle, the Vikings made a point to quickly re-sign Carson Wentz early in the offseason to further shore up the quarterback position on the roster, which also still includes Max Brosmer.

Late this morning (August 11), ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter broke the news that the Vikings had made the decision to name Kyler Murray the starting quarterback ahead of their first preseason game this Saturday.

READ MORE: What Kyler Murray Had To Say After Joining Minnesota Vikings

Minutes later, Schefter shared that Kevin O'Connell had already informed the team about the decision, according to his sources.

McCarthy, who is entering his third year in the NFL, spent all but one preseason game of his rookie year injured, and started 10 gams last year while battling midseason injuries and struggled in games he did play in.

When he was on the field last season, a recurring theme was his inability to deliver touch passes and issues with his mechanics. Those fundamental faults in his play last season led to frustrations among fans and likely within the team. We'll ignore the launch of the cringeworthy "Nine" persona.

Get our free mobile app

Observers at training camp have been trying to assess if there has been a clear winner in the competition between Kyler and J.J., and those opinions seem to vary greatly and differ from day to day. Some days the "winner" was Kyler; others, McCarthy.

The takeaway there is that based on those reports, Kyler didn't exactly run away with the competition from an outsider's perspective.

The one thing to remember is that J.J. knows the offense better and Kyler is still learning it. Does that handicap how you'd score this competition? Is that something that the team had been taking into consideration?

There are also clearly factors the public doesn't know that go into that decision. It is also worth noting that things could easily change as we get into the season.

Kevin O'Connell held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, where he formally announced the news to the media, revealing J.J. will be the backup. That means the presumed depth chart after this decision from the team would be:

• Kyler Murray
• J.J. McCarthy
• Carson Wentz
• Max Brosmer

O'Connell said in the press conference that after some internal dialogue and daily analysis, the decision was made to start Kyler. This came after being "intentional and open" with creating a competitive environment for Kyler and J.J. to work within.

KOC explained that now they can focus on giving Kyler the opportunity to "develop a comfort level" with the offense ahead of the season.

While McCarthy will be behind Kyler on the depth chart, the head coach says he sees a future for J.J. in Minnesota, which would suggest some fan speculation about him potentially being traded away isn't likely to come true.

O'Connell said he has seen real, measurable growth with J.J. from last year to this year, reinforcing that he sees a future for McCarthy with the team.

Some people had suggested the quick signing of Wentz in the offseason was a hint that the "loser" of the quarterback battle could be traded away. This was something I mentioned as a possibility back in March when Wentz was signed.

Wentz had a shorter timeframe to learn the offense, joining the team mid-preseason, and he also played injured during some of his games; he wasn't terrible, all things considered.

Last year's injury-riddled season at the quarterback position is just one of the reasons the Vikings might want to hold on to everyone. On top of that, the reported growth J.J. has shown could be another motivating factor in wanting to continue developing the 2024 10th overall draft pick for a potential future as a starter for the Vikings.