Vikings QB Competition Is “Open” But For How Long?
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell joined The Dan Patrick Show on July 9 from the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe, taking questions on the team’s often talked-about quarterback competition. Kevin didn’t have success golfing in the American Century Championship, where he finished tied for 76th place, but he did succeed in keeping us all guessing about when a starter will be named for this team that will start under center in Week 1.
The Vikings enter the 2026 season with an intriguing battle between second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy and veteran addition Kyler Murray, who signed a one-year deal after his release from the Arizona Cardinals. Veteran Carson Wentz is also back in the QB room, offering additional experience and insurance after a year that saw 3 different QB’s start games.
Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell Not Really Familiar With a Closed QB Competition
When KOC was questioned by host Dan Patrick about how “open” the nature of the quarterback competition actually is, O’Connell delivered much of the company-line speak he has been saying all offseason, but did offer a controversial sound bite to Patrick.
“I’m not really familiar with a closed competition. I’ve heard that everyone’s fascinated with that aspect of it, but here’s what I would say… Really the goal going into this offseason was to elevate the quarterback position because when we have a certain standard of play that we feel like we have multiple guys in that room that we feel are capable of reaching that standard, the Minnesota Vikings win football games. The best way to achieve that is having a daily attempt to have guys push each other.”
KFAN and “Voice of the Minnesota Vikings”, Paul Allen, recently, during his show, also pointed out the issue with KOC’s comment of not being familiar with a closed competition. Paul pointed out how there are several established quarterback situations in the league that are “closed quarterback competitions”. I agree; take a look at the Buffalo Bills. Nobody is challenging starting QB Josh Allen for his job, and it would be ridiculous to even suggest it.
Others like Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold, or Patrick Mahomes, if he were healthy, are not battling for their jobs at training camp. So KOC is obviously being coy about the quarterback competition and is probably tired of being asked about it. I can’t blame him for being tired of being asked the same question and having to give the same response, but it isn’t going to stop until a starter is named this offseason.
KOC did go on to comment with Dan Patrick on the team’s desire to have an established QB who returns Minnesota to its winning ways through a high standard of play.
“As a guy who’s played seven or eight quarterbacks in four years, the two years we had our starter play the whole season, we won 13 and 14 games. We want to try to get back to the standard of having the quarterback position be a driving force behind us winning by doing their job, by hopefully activating the great players they get to play with.”
KOC has praised both Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy all offseason so as not to tip his hand in favor of one player or the other. On the merits of giving each of these guys a fair chance to “compete” for the job or at least give the appearance of a fair competition, you have to give it to him. Players at least publicly acknowledge and support both players, and haven’t given any reason for the media or fans to think it is rigged or that an advantage is being given to either player.
I think both of these guys pushing each other, as KOC intends, is a great thing, helping them step up their game with so much on the line. So when will we get a decision on who the team’s huddle leader will be, so they can start building the playbook around that player?
Timeline to Name a Starter
Vikings training camp is set to begin later this month, with rookies reporting on or around July 26 and veterans on July 28 at the TCO Performance Center in Eagan, Minnesota. I have my dates set to attend Vikings Training Camp and hope to see for myself how both quarterbacks compete, while also focusing on other key training camp battles and player development. The public practices start on August 1st, and their first preseason game is August 15th vs. the New York Giants.
Head Coach Kevin O’Connell has repeatedly said since the competition was announced that there is a structured internal plan to evaluate the quarterbacks and name a starter without dragging the process too deep into August. So if that is true, I would look for a starter to be named either before or after the first preseason game against the Giants on August 15th. That gives both QB’s roughly a week and a half, and almost a month from now we may find out who the named starter will be for this team.
Who Wins The Vikings’ QB Competition?
Hopefully the winner is the Vikings as an organization and us as fans. I assume, as many do, that Kyler Murray will come away as the named starter, but that isn’t to say that J.J. McCarthy doesn’t make it interesting. Both of these guys will have their successes and mistakes put under a daily microscope during training camp. It may become mind-numbing, but this will be the most talked-about storyline for the Vikings until a starter is named.
Until we can start focusing on who is getting the majority of the starting reps, we will continue to evaluate not just who will be the starter this year, but also the progress J.J. McCarthy is making and the possibility that even if he isn’t the starter for this team in 2026, the potential of him being the starter in 2027 or even traded to another team. It may not just be Minnesota, the media, and fans with their eyes on this competition, but other teams looking for another young arm to compete on a team that doesn’t have an answer at the position.
Minnesota should have their answer at the position, at least for 2026, in roughly a month, and I, for one, can’t wait to be at training camp to see Murray and McCarthy push each other to win the job.
