Will Vikings pick big and strong or experienced playmaker? Kyler Murray, J.J. McCarthy offer different flavors

EAGAN, Minn. — After a 7-on-7 series at the Minnesota Vikings' training camp practice, head coach Kevin O'Connell found quarterback Kyler Murray and receiver Justin Jefferson near the eastern end zone.

Murray had started team work with a smooth initial 11-on-11 series. But 7-on-7 work had proved less rhythmic, and Murray overthrew Jefferson down the left sideline.

This was the type of throw training camp is for — to iron out expectations between quarterback and receiver, ensuring each player enters Week 1 with an aligned understanding of a play's rhythm. So O'Connell gathered the duo to discuss just that.

"It was more of a timing play and a timing throw that it didn't really work as timely as we wanted it to," Jefferson told Yahoo Sports after practice Wednesday. "So really just talking with each other and having that communication is really, really key.

"Being on the same page is the main factor."

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Murray would hit Jefferson deep down the right sideline before the 90-minute practice ended.

But on the first day of Vikings training camp practices, and the first day of the latest chapter of the Vikings' quarterback competition, the emphasis was less on when Murray or J.J. McCarthy did complete a pass and more on how each quarterback operated in the scenarios presented to them.

Murray received initial first-team snaps during 11-on-11 drills, but each quarterback received first- and second-team snaps. McCarthy led off an earlier quarterback footwork drill before Murray received initial snaps when throwing routes on air.

Teammates worked to support both quarterbacks, emotionally and schematically, as all knew decisions like these are not usually decided until practices with pads.

So fourth-string quarterback Max Brosmer took mental reps as he celebrated McCarthy hitting receiver Myles Price over the top of a nickel cornerback after just one hitch when last year, Brosmer reckons, McCarthy would have hitched twice. And Brosmer celebrated Murray hitting receiver Jordan Addison several steps before Addison got out of his break.

Jefferson and Addison caught late passes from Murray after cornerback James Pierre intercepted one of his deep balls during 7-on-7.

Jefferson buckled in for the ride. Does he feel there's urgency to know who will start Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers?

"I feel like more for them than for me," Jefferson said. "It doesn't really matter for me. It would be different if it's like a left-hand thrower from a right-hand thrower. But they're both right-handed. So it's not really too much of a difference. 

"It's just really about them seeing it and being comfortable with everybody out there on the field."

As Murray dives into playbook, McCarthy says he's improved 'dramatically'

There's somewhat of a paradox underlying the Vikings' decision at quarterback.

In some ways, their quarterbacks are quite different and thus an offense should cater to those different strengths. In others: O'Connell and Co. believe in their system and want a quarterback who will run it rather than just freelance.

Do the Vikings value stature or experience? McCarthy has just 10 starts under his belt but stands at 6-foot-3. Murray measures in at 5-10 but has started 87 games. Their trademark pluses differ, too.

Murray's scramble and play-extension ability helped him win the Heisman Trophy and earn the 2019 NFL Draft first overall pick. But the Vikings are eager to tout Murray's pocket-passing ability beyond what he showcased within the asks of his Arizona Cardinals offense.

McCarthy arrived in 2024 as the 10th overall selection of the NFL Draft with a college championship to his name and a strong arm. A torn meniscus sidelined him for the 2024 season, and one teammate said his throws last year were sometimes late. The Vikings must decide: Were McCarthy's inconsistent mechanics last year more about his health and inexperience or a longer-lingering barrier to precision? Can McCarthy grow into that touch and layered passing that the college level requires less with its spacing?

"You see the arm strength," quarterbacks coach Josh McCown told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. "He can drive the ball, but it's really taking that next step as a passer and really be able to develop all the clubs in his bag, so to speak. And we felt like he made strides this spring and you should want to continue to see those manifest now obviously."

Murray's play-extension ability is his top offering, though Vikings running back Aaron Jones points to McCarthy's four rushing touchdowns and 12 rushing first downs on 37 carries last year as proof that the Vikings have more than one option for mobile quarterbacks.

McCarthy's play strength was more of a calling card, but McCown pointed to a 23-yard, third-and-2 touchdown Murray threw to Hollywood Brown against the Panthers in 2022 as an example of Murray's pocket-passing ability as well. 

Then there's command of the offense, which the Cleveland Browns said last year would decide their quarterback competition. The Vikings seem less committed to boxing themselves in. Unlike McCarthy, Murray is just learning O'Connell's system — one that puts more emphasis on under-center play action than some of what Murray was asked to do in Arizona. Terminology and verbiage are new, as is chemistry with teammates. Murray will need to move quickly to catch McCarthy's command of the offense.

"Any chance I could get going over scripts, going over the playbook every day," Murray said Wednesday. "Every day for the last six weeks. Then obviously workouts and stuff going out there and implementing what we've done. Obviously get more familiar with the footwork and verbiage and stuff."

McCarthy's assessment of his improvement since fracturing his hand last season: "I'm certain I've grown, mentally and physically, just dramatically."

Amid McCarthy and Murray's different styles, the Vikings are looking for their quarterbacks to trend toward the same mold. Expect Murray to get more first-team work during training camp so coaches can assess how he fits the offense with fewer data points on his look in the O'Connell system than McCarthy's from last year.

Will Murray's first-team snaps the first day of training camp become first-team snaps Week 1 of the regular season? It's too soon to tell.

No one's questioning whether Murray can threaten when plays break down. But the Vikings will tee him up in the coming weeks to see how he leads when plays don't.

"We've all seen 'SportsCenter,' the stuff that he does with his legs — so you can't discount that…" McCown said. "But we want to coach him and kind of ask him, to a degree, to operate in our offense and then add his touch to it within that as those plays. The game gives you those opportunities. You don't know when it's going to happen, but those plays come up. And so we're hoping that that'll be a positive for us if/when that does happen. But it's coaching him as if he's just another Vikings quarterback that's in our system, learning our system, trying to grow him in our system the right way. 

"And then again, letting his God-given ability and skill set take over when he plays."

The Vikings hope defenses have to face the O'Connell offense, with new wrinkles marrying the run and pass from coaching staff addition Frank Smith, against whoever is lining up at quarterback.

Their own defense is already getting that message.

"I've been with [O'Connell] his whole time here, so I know how the offense works," safety Josh Metellus told Yahoo Sports. "It doesn't matter who's getting that ball. It operates a specific way. So it really doesn't matter who's at quarterback. The offense goes a certain way. 

"It's all about throwing off the timing of the offense."