The Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback competition is still alive, but the early snap counts have tilted in a way that’s hard to ignore.
According to Kevin Seifert of ESPN from Vikings training camp, Kyler Murray has taken “roughly two-thirds of the snaps with the first-team offense.” That doesn’t settle anything by itself, but it does give Murray an edge in the race with J.J. McCarthy as camp moves along.
Seifert noted that the split “can be partially explained by Murray's relative inexperience in the offense,” since the Vikings need to get him up to speed. Even so, the workload has been meaningful enough to stand out across the week, and Seifert wrote that Murray “has used them productively.”
He also added that “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.”
That said, the battle is not close to finished. Seifert said both quarterbacks have had their moments, for better and worse, over “roughly 300 snaps during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills.” He also pointed out that each has worked with both the first and second units.
There’s still time for McCarthy to make a push. Seifert wrote that “there have been only two padded practices so far, and there will be six more days of on-field work before the Vikings' first preseason game.”
For now, the competition is headed toward the preseason with plenty still unresolved. The Vikings will keep sorting out whether the newcomer Murray or the 23-year-old McCarthy will be the starter when Week 1 arrives on Sept. 13 against the Green Bay Packers.
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