Vikings’ OTA Observations – Yahoo Sports

The Minnesota Vikings began phase two of OTAs last week and in addition to the quarterback competition, there were some hints and bits and pieces that may prove insightful when it comes to scheme, who makes the roster, and the depth charts.

I’ve included notes from both practices open to reporters- last Wednesday and this Thursday.

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Let’s get into it.

The QB Competition

From the comments of local beat writers who attended last Wednesday’s OTA, J.J. McCarthy looked improved, but Kyler Murray was better. From Kevin Seifert of ESPN:

In the team’s second OTA of the spring, and the first open to local media members, Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy both took snaps with projected starters and against the likely first-team defense. If you were drawing up a plan to give each player fair and equal time to prove they are the team’s best option, this would be it.

But you can only have a genuine competition if there is actual uncertainty about who the best quarterback on the roster is. With the caveat that this was one day in May, with no pads and some drills performed at half speed, it is only fair to point out that the gap between the two quarterbacks was not close…

Murray made all of the best throws of the practice, demonstrating his downfield touch and accuracy. Nothing McCarthy did was objectionable, and one of his few incompletions — a pass to the flat that cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. nearly intercepted — occurred when two receivers drifted far too close to each other.

Overall, the afternoon was a reminder that McCarthy could continue along the upward trajectory he established at the end of last season — and still fall well short of matching Murray’s experience, arm talent and potential to make big plays in the passing game.

Seifert’s comments on the competition stood out to me for being unusually blunt. Normally his comments can be a bit more balanced (i.e. they both did some things well, struggled with others, we’ll have to wait and see who emerges, etc.) but he made it clear that Murray is the better quarterback and even with some improvement McCarthy may well lose this competition.

Alec Lewis with The Athletic framed it this way, calling the competition “manufactured”:

Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy took a similar number of snaps. Both threw to star receivers. Each received hands-on, on-field feedback from head coach Kevin O’Connell. Nothing about the structure favored one player over the other.

But it didn’t have to for the odds to feel dramatically tilted in Murray’s direction.

Murray, picked No. 1 in 2019 by the Arizona Cardinals, showcased his feel as a passer with several touch throws…

It would not have taken long Wednesday for any casual observer to recognize Murray’s immense talent.

He climbed the pocket and lofted a pass toward undrafted free-agent receiver Dillon Bell. The catch didn’t slow Bell, who raced for extra yards after the catch. Later, Murray connected down the field with former undrafted receiver Dontae Fleming, who rose and snatched a ball over a defender.

Throughout the afternoon, Murray quickly progressed to a couple of checkdowns. He drilled receiver Jeshaun Jones in the chest as he angled his route over the middle.

Murray’s best throw came against one of defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ all-out blitz pictures. Murray sniffed out the pressure and hurled a ball to receiver Jordan Addison down the right sideline. Several players hollered. Murray received some fist bumps. Mostly, the scene gave off the vibe that this is what’s expected.

Lewis also had positive things to say about McCarthy’s performance on the field:

On the field, McCarthy was nearly as efficient as Murray. He pinpointed passes with accuracy and notably lifted the ball up and over defenders during several drills. McCarthy’s mechanics looked polished and refined. The ball still zipped out of his hand. Unlike many times in 2025, health didn’t limit him from looking like the ball of clay with upside the Vikings believed him to be.

Dane Mizutani with the Pioneer Press characterized the competition as a 100-yard race with Kyler Murray starting on the 50-yard line.

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Both Mizutani and Matthew Collier of Purple Insider characterized McCarthy’s performance as solid, but just not as good as Kyler Murray, who was more reminiscent of veterans of the past like Sam Darnold, Kirk Cousins, and Sam Bradford– throwing with touch, arc, and accuracy in a way that was expected from a seven-year starter. Collier said that the rep count for each QB was about the same for most of the practice, but Murray had more reps toward the end.

Overall, all the beat writers basically had the same take: McCarthy was fine/solid and maybe a bit improved from how he was last year, but Murray was a lot better.

None of that should come as a surprise. McCarthy spent all offseason working with his longtime QB coach John Beck to improve his accuracy, ball placement, mechanics, and touch, so you’d expect some improvement from him. And Murray was the Heisman Trophy winner, #1 pick in the draft, OROY award winner, and 2x Pro Bowler for a reason, despite his 5’10” height. He is a great thrower of the football and a playmaker with his feet and has a long highlight reel to prove it.

Will Ragatz with SI detailed the QB competition from Thursday’s OTA, which wasn’t as noteworthy because the 11-on-11 drills were at half-speed. McCarthy had one bad throw (his first) which was way behind the intended target and would have been intercepted except it was way behind Josh Metellus as well. Murray had one interception on an underthrown deep ball but also continues to have the best throws of practice. Here’s a bit of Ragatz’s piece:

The overall analysis hasn’t changed much. McCarthy can still zip the ball on a straight line as well as anyone, and he’s shown some signs of mechanical improvement from last season. But Murray just looks like a veteran quarterback who can make all of the throws, even if his interception highlighted a concern about his ability to push the ball deep downfield if it’s not his first read.

“His physical talent throwing the ball has been on display every day,” Kevin O’Connell said of Murray. “The ability to throw to all three levels, layer the ball, anticipation that veteran players bring to the position.”

O’Connell also praised his growth within the Vikings’ scheme, saying “it’s like two totally different guys” when comparing Murray’s current comfort with calling plays to where he was when the offseason program began.

Tom Pelissero with NFL dot com suggested something similar, saying that the Vikings could begin to shift the first-team reps toward Murray as soon as this week and we could have a pretty good idea of which direction this is going by the end of spring.