Is it 'inevitable' that Vikings will start Murray?
Mike Florio and Chris Simms analyze Kevin O'Connell's comments on the ongoing QB battle in Minnesota and if it's "inevitable" Kyler Murray will start with JJ McCarthy hanging tough in training camp.
Video Transcript
From one not-so-tall quarterback to another, Kyler Murray trying to win the starting job in Minnesota against J.J. McCarthy.
Kevin O'Connell has said there's no change in the timeline.
Now, I'm gonna play something for you that comes from Sunday before a Sunday night practice that, by all accounts, didn't go well for Murray and did go somewhat better for McCarthy.
But here's Kevin O'Connell on Kyler Murray's adjustment to the offense that he is learning for the first time in Minnesota.
I think mentally, he's, he's definitely probably ahead of where I thought.
I think there's been some new, you know, layers to our offense that maybe as a whole, our offense, whether it's Kyler or J.J.
In there, you know, it's new to those guys.
And it's, it might be a small detail, but it's important and it affects the, you know, the visual outcome of the play, where maybe us as coaches love those plays 'cause then you can, you know, really highlight it and get a correction and you move forward.
You know, I think that in Minnesota, there's a growing concern that no one has separated, a growing concern that a decision hasn't been made.
I think there's a more stark difference between Murray and McCarthy.
The thinking was Murray was signed specifically to win the starting job.
He hasn't won it yet.
McCarthy's had his moments, McCarthy layering the throws.
He had a great throw Sunday night up and over to Miles Price on the sideline.
It wasn't the piss missile that tried to blast through the bodies- Yeah of the defenders who were between the receiver and the quarterback.
It was up and over.
It was a dot right on the sideline.
Great catch, great throw, great everything.
And it feels like McCarthy is not giving in.
It feels like he is holding his own, and that Kyler Murray, hell, he had, he had a not pretty interception the other night.
It just feels like the opening is there for McCarthy to take this, and the Vikings are doing everything they can to try to boost Murray to become what they thought he was gonna be when they signed him for peanuts in the off season.
Yeah, no, well, the first thing is, is, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's Kyler I mean, Kyler Murray is, of course, talented, but, but w- we know McCarthy's talented too.
There's a reason he was a first-round pick.
I mean, he's got a strong damn arm.
We never just, we never, like, questioned that.
It was the stuff you talked about.
Layering the ball, staying healthy.
He's a good damn athlete too.
So I'm not shocked that he's not going anywhere.
But, but it's almost, you know, I almost feel like it, it's Kyler Murray inevitable here, at least to start the year as well.
You know, it just feels like it.
Anybody you talk to, the hype around the conversation, yeah, but Kyler Murray's, I guess, trip-ups in practice a little lately.
You do talk to some people there, they'll tell you that he's definitely maybe had a few more shaky decisions than people have given it credit for.
A lot of dropped interceptions that he, he probably should've thrown the interception, but the guy dropped it.
So yeah, it hasn't been quite perfect or smooth.
I think it's another one here that the games are gonna dictate a little bit.
It does feel like Kyler Murray's in the lead.
It does feel like, I, I don't wanna say to the extent of Cleveland, but I, I feel like it's inevitable with Kyler Murray.
I don't I, I feel like, yeah, to your point, they wanna throw Kyler Murray out there.
They wanna give the team a new juice, a new look that fans, a new belief.
I think they look at it that way instead of if they go J.J. McCarthy to start the year, I think everybody goes, "Uh, well, I mean, we've seen," you know, Mike Florio said this before, "We've, we've seen this movie before.
I don't know how this is gonna work."
And then it's just gonna be so much pressure on him that if he doesn't play awesome the first two or three weeks, everybody's gonna be like, "Get him outta here."
So I kinda have the feel, and I think that's why we've heard such a pro Murray sentiment out of there.
And I think that's probably because the Vikings have pushed that too, that yeah, they, they gotta start Kyler Murray.
They gotta start Kyler Murray, and then if he falters and they don't play as well, then you can have the J.J. McCarthy off the bench look.
He's ready.
He's a little bit, you know, better in the offense and he's ready to save the day.
I think the other way around can be a dangerous situation, and I think that's why, you know, you kinda saying your thoughts about what they had and planned for, for Kyler Murray.
One of the things I saw, and I monitor a lot of what's online, I, I don't wanna over cover, I don't wanna under cover it, I'm kinda just waiting and seeing because it's the opinions of people who are at practice, and, and different people are gonna have different opinions.
Yeah.
But one thing I saw that would seem to be fairly provable or debunkable through objective facts, one observation was that Justin Jefferson and J.J. McCarthy aren't connecting on passes much, if at all, in training camp.
Matthew Collier, I th- I'm not sure who Matthew Collier's with, I'd have to check that.
Possibly The Athletic, I could be wrong.
But, but that's the key, and I've said all along Justin Jefferson's gonna be the key to this.
And if Murray is throwing the ball to Jefferson, and McCarthy and Jefferson aren't connecting, that's a factor that is going to weigh heavily- Totally on the outcome of this competition.
Yeah.
Well- 'Cause that was the problem last year.
Yeah, sure.
They weren't connecting- Right as much as they could.
No, it, well, you know, for young quarterbacks, when you're playing with a superstar receiver, you could f- you do feel the pressure.
We, we've had some laughs about this i- in the past.
I, I, when I first got playing with the Bucs and Joey Galloway, I, you know, I wanted everything to be perfect for Joey.
I wanted him to like me.
I want, you know, "Hey, hey, now, how was that ball?"
I mean, I'd literally be throwing to him, be like, "I hope this is perfect.
It's Joey, so then he'll like me, and he can run for a touchdown, and then come back and tell everybody how awesome I am, and we can hang out later, and he can be my buddy."
I mean, so there is that a little bit.
And I feel like J.J. McCarthy's gone through a little bit of that pressure of, like, throwing the ball to Justin Jefferson, and he's just not quite over it yet.
But yeah, you're right.
That, I mean, that's gonna be a huge thing.
Because at some point they're gonna kinda, they're gonna go to Justin Jefferson and go, "Hey, you know, come, what's your thoughts?
You know, give me your feel."
And they're gonna be able to kinda glean exactly what he feels or who he's connecting with within that conversation, and that's where that'll be important to your point, Mike.
And Jefferson is never gonna say anything negative publicly about anyone on the team, but he'll make his views known some way, somehow, as to who he thinks the better player will be.
And he is the locker room as it relates to the quarterback decision.
Doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.
It's him.
The other side of this, before we break, neither quarterback has really done very well.
Could it be that the Vikings defense is just really good?
Well- Could it be that we'll find out in the preseason that these guys can play 'cause they aren't dealing with Brian Flores' defense all the time?
Th- th- that's the worst thing about playing or practicing in training camp against defenses like Brian Flores.
It, it's the worst because it, it's just like, "Hey, we're trying to learn some new plays here on our side of the ball," let alone go, "Hey, what the hell are they doing over here?
There's nine guys lined up over here.
They're all running over this way to trick us on the blitz and then drop into coverage."
And so yeah, that, that it can, it can hurt against the team.
You know, I've been in situations like that where then the, the offensive coordinator head coach, like Kevin O'Connell, he might have to go to Brian Flores every now and then and go, "Hey, you know, you're the man, but we need to see some of these other coverages that we're gonna see from some other teams.
We got, we gotta work on that a little bit.
We can't always be worried about, 'Hey, we gotta pick up the blitz, pick up the blitz, pick up the blitz.'
Like, not everybody plays your defense.
We gotta get some reps against some other things."
And they'll have that conversation, but I, I think what you say is a very real factor.
I mean, that, it's, it's a pain in the ass when you gotta deal with something like that every day, and it can make the offensive side of the practice look ugly.
That's right, and we will see.
It makes the preseason, which is otherwise meaningless, much more meaningful for the Browns and for the Vikings.
Those are the games to watch because those competitions are real, and how those quarterbacks play is going to go a long way toward determining who will be starting the season when the season begins in just- And of course they're playing at the- What is it?
Same damn time on Saturday.
A month and two days from now.
That's the other thing I wanted to say.
Of course.
Of course they're both playing at 1:00, the Vikings and the Browns.
Of course.
So then I have to go crazy going back and forth trying to watch the damn games and see who's doing well.
Of course that's what happens.
The two damn games you go- Damn PGPs "I'd like to just watch them at a different time 'cause it's the most important thing going on in training camps right now," they're going on exactly at 1:00 PM on Saturday.
