Kevin O’Connell Explains Decision To Start Kyler Murray Over J.J. McCarthy

The Minnesota Vikings have chosen Kyler Murray as their starting quarterback over J.J. McCarthy, the widely expected conclusion to what coach Kevin O’Connell pledged was a true competition. O’Connell made the announcement before practice on Tuesday afternoon, giving Murray a full month of full-time repetitions with the first-team offense before the regular season begins on Sept. 13. O’Connell and general manager Nolan Teasley met with both players in the morning to discuss the decision. “I didn’t come in here expecting to be handed the job or anything like that. I just expected to come here and compete,” Murray said after practice. “I’m very appreciative of how it was handled.” With 87 starts over seven years in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals, two Pro Bowl selections and a unique elusiveness that has fueled 3,193 career rushing yards, Murray was going to have to either get hurt or badly struggle with his grasp of O’Connell’s offense for McCarthy to keep the job. An earlier end to the audition was always going to be ideal for Murray, too, in the familiarization process with a layered playbook that asks more of the quarterback than most teams in the league. Based purely on performance in open-to-the-public practices, this depth chart battle was more even than not. But the Vikings have clearly been cognizant of the downside to splitting turns considering the value to Murray of maximizing his preseason time running the offense. “It’s just the appropriate time now to allow our team and everybody clarity for exactly the direction we’re moving going forward,” O’Connell said. Murray, who signed a one-year contract with the Vikings for the veteran minimum salary, will be the fourth starting quarterback in four season openers following McCarthy, Sam Darnold and Kirk Cousins. “There’s moments in time where you know there’s comfort from Kyler in the scheme. He had some really high completion days where he was able to show some really, really good understanding of just putting the ball in play, playing with great timing, rhythm,” O’Connell said. “You guys have seen him be explosive when there’s opportunities there, but you’ve also seen him check the ball down and put the ball in play and get us from a first-and-10 to a second-and-3. And then, as you continued to look at the body of work through those 10 days, what jumped out is what could be.” Both Murray and McCarthy will play in the first exhibition game on Saturday against the New York Giants, O’Connell said. McCarthy will be the second stringer, followed by Carson Wentz, who started five games last season while McCarthy was injured. Max Brosmer, who made two starts, is the other quarterback in camp. McCarthy, who was not immediately made available for comment, was the 10th overall pick in the 2024 draft. He tore the meniscus in his right knee during the first exhibition game and underwent surgery that kept him sidelined for his entire rookie year while Darnold helped the Vikings rack up 14 wins. After Darnold departed as a free agent for the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, McCarthy inherited the job without any legitimate competition and struggled as a variety of injuries limited him to 10 starts. “Look, he’s a young player with a whole bunch of outstanding things in his future,” O’Connell said, adding: “I know he’s going to continue to improve, and the long-term mindset of him as a Minnesota Viking and all the things that he’s brought here is still absolutely part of the long-term vision for sure. I’m excited to see him go do that and get to do it with him.” Reporting by the Associated Press.