J.J. McCarthy had the most starts for the Minnesota Vikings in the 2025 season. With that, the expectations for him to lead the franchise in the 2026 season remained high, until Kyler Murray came into the picture, who reportedly has been chosen to lead the Vikings in the 2026 season.

NFL insider Adam Schefter wrote on X that the franchise had made the decision to give Murray the QB reins of the franchise.

Kyler Murray is a 2018 Heisman Trophy winner who spent the last seven seasons of his NFL career representing the Arizona Cardinals. But when Murray joined the Minnesota Vikings in March 2026, he had to topple a competitor like J.J. McCarthy to get the QB1 position.

The Vikings’ training camp started on August 1, where both McCarthy and Murray were given equal reps to show their prowess. And by the end of the first week, team insiders reported that Murray was emerging as the “clubhouse leader”.

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Insiders noted that Murray’s experience and superior on-field processing gave him a distinct edge over McCarthy. He proved to be more precise and decisive under pressure. Simultaneously, Murray flashed elite arm talent in camp, turning heads by going a perfect 8-for-8 in early full-team drills, including five straight completions to WR1 Justin Jefferson.

Having shown his brilliance, by the second week of camp, coaches began to favor Murray, shifting the first-team snap counts to a lopsided 75-25 split in his favor, which eventually paved the way for Murray to become the QB1 of the Minnesota Vikings.

Long-term questions around McCarthy do rise now. Minnesota traded up to draft the QB with the tenth overall pick. After missing his entire true rookie year due to a torn meniscus, McCarthy started 10 games in 2025.

However, he struggled heavily with multiple injuries (ankle, hand) and logged a poor 72.6 passer rating, throwing 11 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. Following that, when the competition to lead their franchise for the 2026 season after Murray’s arrival peaked, McCarthy’s output was plagued by errors.

“Unfortunately for J.J., he has also struggled with his accuracy,” Vikings insider Kevin Seifert said on SportsCenter. “[McCarthy] made some nice downfield throws [on Aug. 9] in the stadium practice, but also struggled in the red zone. So really what you have is going into the third week of camp, neither one of these guys has really jumped up and said, this is my job, I’m going to be the starter, and so the competition will continue.”

Based on the observations, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell did not drag the decision into the late preseason. As things stand, J.J. McCarthy is signed through 2027 and will serve as Kyler Murray’s primary backup.

However, with Murray playing on a one-year deal containing a no-tag clause, McCarthy’s future with the Vikings might hinge heavily on how Murray performs in the upcoming season.

The first glimpse of Murray leading the Vikings offense will come on Saturday, August 15, when Minnesota will scrap against the New York Giants in a pre-season game.

Kyler Murray has a point to prove

Winning the QB spot is a major triumph for Murray, especially considering how highly rated McCarthy was when he first came into the league. The reason why the battle for the QB spot was going to be interesting in Minnesota was because of how last season panned out for McCarthy and Murray.

The former started 10 games and threw for 1,632 yards, while also throwing 12 interceptions. A standout stat was that McCarthy had more interceptions than touchdowns [11].

Murray, on the other hand, was released by the Cardinals after seven years. In 2025, he played only five games, recording 962 yards. In his time with the Cardinals, Murray went to the postseason just once. This led the franchise to decide to go in a different direction.

Now, Murray is on a team that has ambitions of winning the NFC North. Whether their move to make the veteran their starting QB helps them get there is a question only time will tell, but until then, the Vikings will be hoping McCarthy understands the decision.