Over and Over Again, Kevin O’Connell Clarified the Key Clue in QB1 Battle

Brought down to the basics, football is about a team winning and not individuals playing well.

Kevin O’Connell is leading a QB1 battle in the Twin Cities. In all likelihood, the QB who is better will end up being named the starter. What’s important to remember, though, is that individual performance isn’t the sole, deciding criteria. Not, at least, if we are taking O’Connell’s recent words seriously. Minnesota’s skipper is going to choose the passer who best allows the team to win.

Kevin O’Connell and Why the Best Man May Not Win

More often than not, the best quarterback is the quarterback who best allows the team to win. That’s now always the case, though.

Envision a scenario where an ultra-talented passer has a serious off-field issues. Maybe that’s an instance where simply being the best player doesn’t translate to the team being in a better spot to win a bunch of games.

Or, perhaps, there’s a superior quarterback overall who isn’t a scheme fit. The hypothetical passer wants to function in a seven-step drop offense that’s commonly leaning on four verticals. The offense, meanwhile, is a better fit for screens, shallow crossing routes, and the occasional deep bomb.

The point: there’s a small amount of daylight between the best passer in isolation and then the best passer for a specific team.

Kevin O’Connell understands the reality. In fact, Kevin O’Connell understands the reality so well that he’ll make the public proclamation over and over again, as he did in his presser at the end of Vikings minicamp.

Check out some of what he said about who will win the QB1 competition. What’s the key criteria:

• “Both those guys have done some really, really good things and I think they’re elevating our football team.”
• “We want to make sure by the time we play the Green Bay Packers that there’s been ample time to have the best possible offense we can have to help our football team. And the quarterback’s going to play a big role in that.”
• “Ultimately, what’s best for the Minnesota Vikings is going to be the direction we go.”
• “That player that elevates the group as a whole is going to be the guy that’s under center against the Green Bay Packers.”
• “Ultimately, a very simple answer in the end: what’s best for the Minnesota Vikings to win games. And activate the really good players we have around them in that offensive huddle.”

Last year, the Vikings won nine games in spite of the quarterbacks. O’Connell wants to remove that tension by winning games due to the quarterback.

The Vikings’ task therefore involves discovering the identity of the individual quarterback who best allows the team to thrive. Generally speaking, the best quarterback gives the team the best shot to win, but there are times when that’s not necessarily so.

If, for instance, Kyler Murray is an inferior talent who nevertheless finds a way to let Justin Jefferson feast, allows the offensive line to play fast and physical, as well as put the broader team in a good spot, then Murray will indeed be the starter. Factors such as intangibles — leadership, grit, and other attributes — can be worked into the mix, as well.

Football is a team game played by humans. The quarterback therefore needs to be individually excellent but, more importantly, capable of letting the other humans on his team to be excellent. Kevin O’Connell is therefore going to describe his best quarterback as the one who best allows the team to win.

Being the most accurate is great but not the final criteria. Likewise, being able to elude pressure, throw the ball the farthest, or any number of other things aren’t going to be the determining factor. Each of these parts of the game are positive but are a means to an end.

What the Vikings most want to see is a quarterback who fuels victories. Last year, the goal involved building a roster so formidable that even a passer experiencing normal growing pains could still win. Two errors were made. First, the roster wasn’t a juggernaut, merely quite good. Second, the quarterback play was a lot worse than expected.

The pivot going into 2026 involves conducting a robust passer battle to see a quarterback step up as a driver of team success. As things stand, I’d guess that Kyler Murray sits at a 60% chance of winning while J.J. McCarthy is down at 40%.

Kevin O’Connell is entering his fifth season as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. He is 0-2 in the playoffs.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

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