The Minnesota Vikings didn’t have a fun calendar year. They won 14 games in 2024, headlined by Sam Darnold at quarterback, one of the great comeback stories in recent memory. They then lose immediately in the playoffs. Rather than retain Darnold, they let him walk in free agency, hoping to move forward with 1st round pick J.J. McCarthy. Darnold goes to Seattle and wins the Super Bowl. McCarthy endures injury and consistency problems, causing the Vikings to crash to an 8-9 record. Realizing they’d made an enormous mistake, the team did the only thing they could. They want out and got the most proven quarterback possible. That is former Pro Bowler Kyler Murray.
The ex-first overall pick had some really good seasons for the Arizona Cardinals, but his production dipped considerably after 2021, and he never regained his top form. Last season, he was lost for the year after five games due to an injury. Rather than stay the course, Arizona chose to move on. Minnesota, believing head coach Kevin O’Connell could coax the best out of Murray as he had other veteran quarterbacks, moved swiftly to sign him. Yet to the surprise of many, they’ve opted to put him in a competition with McCarthy.
Murray doesn’t seem happy about that based on recent comments.
Kyler Murray is already living up to his reputation.
The quarterback has never been known as a straight-up malcontent. However, he does have a history of somewhat selfish behavior and finding ways to make it known. Now, what he said isn’t wrong. He is correct that splitting reps with another guy in practice can make it difficult to learn an offense. The issue is this isn’t something you’re supposed to voice publicly. That is something you have to keep in-house. Everybody now thinks there is discontent in the building, which the Vikings don’t need.
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McCarthy also did nothing to help matters. When asked how the relationship between he and Murray was developing, the former 1st round pick didn’t give the party line. He was honest.
“It’s just like two guys in a classroom. He sits on one side, and I sit on the other side. It’s the coaches’ responsibility to teach us and coach us. Awkwardness? It’s just like the same feeling when you’re in high school, and there’s another person on the other side of the room. That’s just kinda how it is.”
There is no question that this is a situation nobody is happy with, and that doesn’t bode well for the coming season. Remember, the Chicago Bears went into 2020 with a similar setup. They still had Mitch Trubisky trying to reclaim his brief status as a franchise QB, only to be confronted by Nick Foles, a former Super Bowl champion. It didn’t end well for either.
Are the Vikings putting too much faith in O’Connell?
There is no question that he is an excellent offensive mind. That said, one must be careful with the idea that he is the end-all, be-all of quarterback whisperers. Up until now, he has worked with a particular type of quarterback. The pocket-oriented type. You had Case Keenum in Washington, Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford in Los Angeles, then Kirk Cousins, Darnold, and McCarthy in Minnesota. Kyler Murray is not that type of player. His game has long been predicated on using his mobility to create off-script and hitting big plays down the field.
This is not somebody who will run a surgical drive going 7-of-7. If O’Connell tries to make him like that, the results may not be what Minnesota wants. Jonathan Gannon tried that approach in Arizona for years. It never fully took hold. Maybe the Vikings’ strong supporting cast makes that easier, but there are so many variables involved. Then you throw the lack of reps into the mix, and you’re asking for trouble. Minnesota may navigate it all because things just seem to work out for them at times. Best not to bet on it.
