Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy is in a competition with Kyler Murray to determine who will be the team’s starter to begin the 2026 NFL season. McCarthy is looking to show that he’s the franchise QB the team drafted in the first round in 2024.
Nonetheless, many see Murray emerging as the Vikings’ starting QB despite McCarthy’s offseason efforts to establish himself as a starter. Moreover, one of the national NFL media pundits who sees the former Arizona Cardinals QB winning the competition is FOX Sports’ Danny Parkins.
Parkins also made it clear that he doesn’t see McCarthy winning the battle and noted a more likely outcome for the Vikings signal-caller.
“I will be floored if Kyler Murray is not the Week 1 starter, and I actually think it’s more likely that J.J. McCarthy gets traded than that he’s the Week 1 starter,” Parkins said on the July 30 edition of “First Things First.” “They signed Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz is a legitimate backup quarterback in this league.
“I know they didn’t give [Murray] the job, and I know he chose to go there believing he could beat out J.J. McCarthy. Then, if you get there, you’ve got a Brian Flores defense, you’ve got Jordan Addison, you’ve got Justin Jefferson, and you have all of that talent.
“You get to play in a dome and have all of those advantages. But Kyler Murray could have gone to the Dolphins. He could have gone to the Jets. He could have gone to a place where there wasn’t a competition and just been the starting quarterback.”
Kyler Murray Likely Feels He Can Beat Out J.J. McCarthy
Last season with the Vikings, McCarthy had 310 pass snaps, leading to a 61.8 overall PFF grade. He also threw for 1,632 passing yards and 11 touchdowns against 12 interceptions, while recording 19 big-time throws and 15 turnover-worthy plays.
Parkins also notes that Murray went to Minnesota because of the situation with the team and head coach Kevin O’Connell. Furthermore, the FOX Sports analyst believes that the former No. 1 pick chose the Vikings because he can beat out McCarthy in a competition.
“I don’t think Kyler Murray is going to Minnesota if he could lose his job to J.J. McCarthy and end up being the backup,“ Parkins added. “So I think Kyler is going to start. Maybe they trade J.J., maybe they don’t. But with Carson Wentz there, I think it’s very much on the table that it was the 10th overall pick and just 10 total games for J.J. McCarthy with the Vikings.”
Adam Thielen Gets Blunt About Vikings QB Battle
Amid the competition starting with training camp and the preseason, former Vikings wideout Adam Thielen shared his thoughts on the competition during a July 27 appearance on “NFL Live.”
“I think it’s Kyler Murray’s job right now,“ Thielen said. “But if J.J. McCarthy comes in and shows what he wasn’t doing well last year, he could win that job. First of all, when you see J.J. in person and you’re around him, you want to be around him.
“He’s a great leader [and] fun to be around. He’s just a guy that everyone loves. At the end of the day, they drafted him in the first round, and they want him to have success. So if he comes in and shows it, he could win that job. But right now, it’s Kyler’s job.”
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