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Tom Pelissero Drives the Final Nail in the Coffin
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- Tom Pelissero Drives the Final Nail in the Coffin
Kirby Lee
In Minnesota, Tom Pelissero is ol' faithful. The national insider has plenty of connections to the Minnesota Vikings, making him uniquely-qualified among league-level voices to weigh-in on the QB pecking order.
Pelissero chatted with Tatum Everett , who works for the Vikings Entertainment Network . The reporter for The NFL Network described the team's reluctance to move through another year without ample passer depth given the injury turmoil that undermined 2023 and 2025. Afterwards, there's the clincher: "They love Carson Wentz, he's coming in, I think it's pretty clear as QB3. It's going to be J.J. McCarthy versus Kyler Murray."
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Tom Pelissero Clarifies QB Depth Chart
Dustin Baker wrote about the issue yesterday, describing Kevin O'Connell's assessment of Wentz being valued depth .
What needs to be remembered is that Minnesota was undermined last year due the QB position having both a low ceiling and a low floor. As a result, the decision was to onboard passers who could elevate both areas. Murray is someone to raise the ceiling as a high-upside option; Wentz is in town to solidify the floor as a low-maintenance option.
Dec 14, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) slaps hands with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell after a made field goal against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images
Sitting between those two is J.J. McCarthy, the 23-year-old quarterback who got chosen at No. 10 in the 2024 NFL Draft (a lifetime ago).
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Pretty consistently, Kevin O'Connell and Rob Brzezinski have clarified that the desire is alive and well: the franchise wants the Michigan passer to be the long-term starter. No team, short of the truly foolish squads, gives up on a young arm so quickly, especially when there hasn't been any nefarious off-field issues to demand a divorce.
Moreover, so much of what has hindered McCarthy has been plain old bad luck. Getting and staying healthy could be the key.
The other part of the equation is the competition that's taking place, something that Tom Pelissero circles around to in his answer. Not only is there a clarification about Wentz coming in at 3rd within the hierarchy, but Pelissero goes on to describe the situation as "a real competition," a conclusion he has arrived at "based on everything that I've been told."
Feb 4, 2026; San Francisco, CA, USA; Tom Pelissero on the NFL Network set at the Super Bowl LX media center at the Moscone Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.
If the only criteria is who is the best quarterback at this precise moment, then Kyler Murray is a near certainty to start. What gets missed in that too-simple criteria is that J.J. McCarthy is improving.
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If Murray takes a step forward, then McCarthy needs to take two or three steps forward within the same timeline. Do that enough times and the sizable QB chasm that exists on April 1st could get shrunk down in time for September 1st.
The young fella was out in California working with a private quarterback coach, continuing on his pilgrimage toward airtight mechanics. He's now in the Twin Cities, building up his body with the Vikings' staff at TCO Performance Center. Being healthy, owning good technique, and getting into the best shape of his life, McCarthy could very well become a very good passer.
Based on who offers the most upside over a long-term time horizon, J.J. McCarthy is the clear answer. He is younger, has better size, and has a contract that's much easier to manage over the next several years. So, too, did he demand a far more expensive form of investment from the team.
At the end of the day, there's training camp and the preseason for a reason. The competition is already underway no matter how much O'Connell tries to say that May and June are about class on the grass (mastering the scheme). Evaluation is a constant in the NFL, but O'Connell is correct that July and August are going to be what matter most as it relates to who starts in Week 1.
Dec 21, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) and head coach Kevin O'Connell hug before the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
Guessing who comes out on top is precisely that: a guess.
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What isn't uncertain is whether Carson Wentz is now being looked at as a legitimate challenger for the QB1 job. That's simply not the case. Rather, he's a low-maintenance QB3, somebody who can help the team win without demanding much of a workload leading up to games. Something funky could happen that's totally unforeseen, creating the conditions for Wentz to be the starter, but that's going to take an anvil or grand piano falling from the sky.
In late July, Kyler Murray will be looking to hold off J.J. McCarthy within a two-horse race. Stay tuned.
