The Vikings’ quarterback competition has not reached the finish line yet, but one of the aspirants is impressing head coach Kevin O’Connell with his grasp of the offense.
Kyler Murray joined the Vikings this offseason and has had less time in O’Connell’s scheme than J.J. McCarthy, but O’Connell said on Sunday that Murray is further along than expected when it comes to his mental processing.
“I think mentally he’s definitely probably ahead of where I thought,” O’Connell said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com.
Murray has been seen as the favorite to wind up with the job and that assessment would seem to help his chances, but O’Connell gave no indication that a decision is imminent.
“Nothing has really changed from a standpoint of the timeline and things like that,” O’Connell said. “So we’ll see how the reps continue to go and when we feel like we’re at that place, we’re going to make sure we communicate that both in house and internally and obviously to you guys as soon as possible.”
The Vikings open the preseason against the Giants on Saturday and the quarterback play in that game could push things closer to a conclusion in Minnesota.
