Kyler Murray Getting Two-Thirds of First-Team Reps in Vikings QB Battle, Per Report

The Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback competition is still officially open, but the practice reps tell a different story. According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, Kyler Murray has taken roughly two-thirds of the first-team offensive snaps in 11-on-11 drills through the first seven practices of training camp, well ahead of J.J. McCarthy.

Minnesota signed Murray this offseason after releasing him from Arizona, pairing him with McCarthy, the team’s 2024 first-round pick, in what the Vikings have called an open competition. The snap counts suggest otherwise.

What Seifert reported about the split

Seifert described the imbalance as more than noise from a single practice. “A rate that might not carry much meaning for a single practice but is a clear pattern over the course of a week, and he has used them productively,” Seifert wrote, referring to Murray’s share of first-team work.

Seifert added a caveat, noting Murray is still catching up to Minnesota’s playbook after arriving in free agency. “The imbalance can partially be explained by Murray’s relative inexperience in the offense, and the need to get him up to speed,” he wrote. Still, he was direct about what continued lopsided reps would mean. “Unless it reverses in the coming week, it is hard to imagine McCarthy — or any player at any position — winning the job while spending the majority of the most important snaps of camp with the second team,” Seifert wrote.

Both quarterbacks have had uneven days. Seifert noted both “have produced strong and weak moments over roughly 300 snaps during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills,” and each has rotated with both the first and second team at points in camp. McCarthy has spent much of his time working the second-team offense against Minnesota’s starting defense — a common developmental setup, but not one that typically produces a starting job.

McCarthy’s numbers so far

Independent tracking backs up the trend. According to SKOR North’s Judd Zulgad, cited by The Viking Age, Murray logged 63 first-team reps over Minnesota’s four practices since Aug. 1, compared to 33 for McCarthy — despite the two quarterbacks’ overall snap totals for camp being close (146 for Murray, 136 for McCarthy).

McCarthy’s rookie-year struggles are part of why Minnesota went out and added Murray in the first place. He appeared in 10 games in 2025, completing 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, numbers that left the front office looking for insurance at the position.

Why the reps are split this way

The offense itself may be shaping some of the difference. Seifert pointed out that Minnesota has used more shotgun and pistol looks than usual this camp, a shift that could be tailored around Murray’s background — his Arizona offenses ran under center on just 18.3% of snaps over his seven seasons there, compared to head coach Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings, who have gone under center on 47% of snaps during his tenure, the third-highest rate in the league.

McCarthy’s reps have also skewed shorter. Coverage from Daily Norseman’s camp notes described his passing as heavy on screens and checkdowns, with fewer deep or intermediate throws mixed in compared to a year ago.

Not everyone is ready to call it decided. Vikings insider Matthew Coller of Purple Insider said McCarthy’s grip on even the backup role isn’t guaranteed. “That’s really up to J.J. [McCarthy],” Coller said, according to Heavy.com.

What’s next

Minnesota has six more days of practice before its preseason opener against the New York Giants, and two more preseason games after that against the Baltimore Ravens on Aug. 22 and the Denver Broncos on Aug. 28. O’Connell has not said whether reps will shift depending on preseason performance, and it remains unclear whether the competition runs the full length of the preseason. The Vikings open the regular season at home against the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 13.