The Minnesota Vikings had a very specific reason to sign Kyler Murray to a veteran minimum $1.3 million deal. It is to make him compete with JJ McCarthy, who has struggled to find his footing in his two-season-long NFL career. It’s an interesting situation for both QBs, to say the least.
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Murray is entering the eighth year of his career. Meanwhile, McCarthy is entering just his third season, though it feels more like his second because he missed his rookie year due to injury. And now, these two are expected to compete with each other during training camp as well as the pre-season games.
Hall of Famer Rod Woodson, while expressing his thoughts on the situation, said that McCarthy is going to have a tough time beating out Murray. The former cornerback sees Murray possibly reviving his career in Minnesota.
“I don’t think he’ll beat [Murray] out, no,” Woodson said of JJ McCarthy on the Rich Eisen Show. “I mean, you have a veteran quarterback who’s trying to find the second side of his career in a new place, and hopefully he learns what he can and cannot do. Like the other quarterbacks we’ve seen, Daniel Jones, [Sam] Darnold.”
The former Super Bowl champion added that Murray came into the league showing immense talent. However, in the NFL, talent alone doesn’t separate players. Woodson is keen to see whether Murray will approach this stage of his career with a mindset focused on growth and progression.
“He is talented. But talent doesn’t mean a lot in the National Football League cause everybody is talented. It’s the guys who keep learning, who keep progressing, who keep understanding the game at a high level. Those guys separate themselves from guys who play five to seven years and the Hall of Famers,” Woodson said.
“But I don’t think JJ will beat him out just for the fact that Murray is an older guy. He’s been around. He understands systems. And the biggest thing is that he has some players over these to help him out,” continued Woodson.
“You know, [Justin] Jefferson, one of the best receivers in the National Football League, and I know Jefferson wants more opportunity to catch the football,” he added.
Murray has what it takes to supplant McCarthy as the starter in Minnesota. As recently as last season, he showed flashes of the No. 1 overall talent he came into the league with in 2019. It’s just a matter of establishing consistency and, above all else, staying healthy.
In his last four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, Murray missed 27 games due to various injuries. He tore his ACL in 2022, which bled into the 2023 season. This past season, he missed 12 games due to a foot injury.
At the end of the day, if Murray can stay healthy, he should have no issues taking McCarthy’s job. Unless the third-year QB enters the season showing major improvements, it shouldn’t be too hard for the veteran to earn the trust of the coaching staff. Just that Murray needs to stay focused on football and cut back on the video games.
