Kevin O'Connell assesses Vikings QB battle between JJ McCarthy, Kyler Murray, Carson Wentz

Kevin O’Connell was pretty open about where the Vikings stand with J.J. McCarthy, Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz. At this stage, it looks like a three-way quarterback battle for the position of starter in 2026.

“Knowing that we feel comfortable and confident about the depth of our quarterback room, we want to prepare all of those guys to be able to take snaps and contribute to winning when called upon,” O’Connell said at the NFL owner’s meetings. “What that looks like, we’ll see.”

McCarthy struggled this season and dealt with injuries once again. The Vikings finished 9-8 with a combination of QBs that included McCarthy and Wentz, whom they brought back in free agency this offseason.

Not only that, after the Arizona Cardinals released Murray, a former No. 1 overall pick, the Vikings pounced. O’Connell noted they have tremendous depth in their room but it’s anyone’s ball game right now, as we’re not even into minicamps yet.

“I just think it’s about depth,” O’Connell said. “It’s about the fact that, without too much of a rearview-mirror-looking backward, you see where the final standings were; where we were at 9-8 and ultimately maybe the one or two or three plays or sequences of games where you find your way into the dance, and that’s really all you ever want at the beginning of every year is to punch your ticket to compete in that one game to continue moving on.”

“We’ve played three guys in one year. We’ve played four in another. We just feel like having the ability to get quality quarterback play throughout the circumstances we do not control throughout the season gives our team pretty historic data that says if we get quarterback play to a certain line, we win a lot of football games. So we wanted to ensure we are able to do that, but also make it a very, very competitive room and that’s regardless of who’s taking reps with what group.”

Murray’s addition to the certainly muddled the future of McCarthy, a first round pick in 2024. McCarthy did not play in 2024 due to a torn meniscus in the preseason, but entered the 2025 season as Minnesota’s starter at quarterback. The front office decided to go all in on McCarthy and let Sam Darnold walk, a season after leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record.

While Darnold led the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory, McCarthy struggled mightily in his true rookie season. The Michigan alum played in just 10 games, where he passed for 1,632 yards and 11 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. Minnesota was 6-4 in games he played in.