Murray ‘remains the heavy favorite’ to be QB1

McCarthy left preseason Week 2 with an ankle injury and returned to practice before ultimately missing preseason Week 3 altogether. According to Lewis, that only added to the murkiness about McCarthy’s 2026 status. All signs point to Carson Wentz as the QB2 after he started Friday’s game against the Broncos. Lewis adds that “McCarthy’s comfort (or lack thereof) with being QB3 could dictate his future in Minnesota” and projects that the Vikings won’t carry him on the 53-man roster to begin the regular season. The 10th overall pick in the draft only two years ago, McCarthy’s path to being a reclamation project for another organization could arrive sooner than anyone thought. Stay tuned.

Wentz started this game and was on the field for two drives, both of which resulted in punts. J.J. McCarthy missed this game with an ankle issue and was already fighting for the backup job. The missed practice time and recurring injury issues likely have him behind Wentz on the depth chart when Week 1 comes around. The hope for Vikings fans is that Murray is a capable distributor of the football and neither Wentz nor McCarthy sees the field this year.

The Vikings hoped that McCarthy’s ankle injury would heal, but ultimately the 23-year-old quarterback isn’t ready to play. The injury is considered minor and McCarthy is day-to-day, according to Lewis. While minor, McCarthy’s injury has cost him valuable reps as he now finds himself battling Carson Wentz for the QB2 job.

McCarthy has been limited in practice this week as he deals with a mild deltoid sprain in his ankle. Despite the injury, the Vikings want to maximize the 23-year-old’s preseason reps with Kyler Murray already locked in as the starter. It’s also possible McCarthy competes with Carson Wentz for the No. 2 quarterback spot as both players split second-team reps earlier this week. O’Connell said the team is aiming to have McCarthy ready to start against the Broncos Friday, but also added, “if we can’t get him there, we can’t get him there.” Ultimately, the ankle injury seems minor but may prevent McCarthy from seeing valuable reps as he fights to stay as the QB2 on the Vikings depth chart.

The Vikings spent a lot of energy having a pretend quarterback competition between McCarthy and Kyler Murray this offseason, but at least it kept them fresh for this second pretend competition where McCarthy will push Wentz for second-team duties. McCarthy is an obvious trade candidate and it would be surprising if he was higher than the third-team quarterback to open the season in Minnesota. One of these quarterbacks is more reliable than the other and somehow that quarterback is Carson Wentz.

McCarthy appeared on four for series, playing on 18 snaps while going 5-for-10 passing for 81 yards. According to KOC, he would have preferred to play McCarthy longer, but the third-year QB “was a little hobbled,” which led to the decision to pull him. O’Connell said he expects McCarthy to be fine and will look to provide an update soon, but given some of the hits he took from the Ravens on Saturday, this news doesn’t come as much of a surprise. McCarthy will get one more look this preseason in next week’s game against the Broncos if he’s able to go.

McCarthy’s most impressive play came on a 50-yard strike downfield to Tai Felton. McCarthy threw a good ball to Felton, who went up to make the contested catch and put the Vikings in scoring position, but the drive would stall a few plays later, down inside the Ravens’ five-yard line. McCarthy would sail a throw high to Felton in the end zone on second and goal, and he missed Myles Price in the flat for a would-be touchdown on fourth and goal. McCarthy also faced considerable pressure from the Ravens defense and took one sack on the day. He was pulled after one quarter of play and will presumably draw the start in next week’s preseason finale against the Broncos next Friday.

Jefferson told Seifert what many of us were concerned about this spring and summer — that having the Murray and QB J.J. McCarthy split first-team reps “was an added challenge.” At the Vikings’ joint practice against the Ravens on Wednesday, Jefferson beat a double team for a touchdown, “but had roughly a half dozen passes broken up as he tried to muscle for position.” Jefferson should still be treated as a WR1, but as he told Seifert, “work needs to be done.”

With the Vikings naming Kyler Murray as the starter, McCarthy’s future in Minnesota is in question. The 23-year-old is entering his third season and still has plenty to work on, though losing the Week 1 starting job indicates his chances to start for the Vikings again are dwindling. When asked about his future, McCarthy stated he wants to be in Minnesota and will “continue to just do whatever [he] can for this team and this organization.” The room for error for young quarterbacks is thin in the NFL and though he is saying the right things to the media, McCarthy is a former first-rounder that may want to move on, should he have no future as a starter with the Vikings. He will start the season as the backup while the Vikings evaluate their quarterback room throughout the season; it wouldn’t be a surprise to see McCarthy depart Minnesota between now and this time next year.

It’s not quite a ringing endorsement for Murray, acquired from the Cardinals this offseason. Murray had a brief competition with incumbent starter JJ McCarthy that included inconsistent play from both signal callers. On Tuesday the Vikings said the competition was over, and that Murray had won. “In my opinion,” O’Connell said, "[Kyler] has got the skill set and the abilities not only just from the standpoint of accuracy and his ability to affect the game with his athleticism, but he’s also proven to be smart, very hardworking, and be able to take in a lot of information and churn that out. Now we really want to give him the opportunity to really start building a comfort level not only with the system but with the guys.” Reportedly fired up about proving himself after flaming out with the Cardinals, Murray should be an upgrade for Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson in 2026. Murray has worked closely with Addison throughout the offseason.