Sports
Vegas Has Spoken on the Vikings QB Competition
The Minnesota Vikings will showcase a few position battles at training camp in late July, but none is higher profile than the quarterback competition between the incumbent, J.J. McCarthy, and the newcomer, Kyler Murray. And as of May, there’s a frontrunner to prevail — pretty heavily, actually: Murray.
Minnesota’s quarterback room suddenly has a betting favorite before training camp begins.
Carson Wentz will be there, too, but he’s realistically in line for the QB3 job.
Murray Enters Summer with a Clear Edge
McCarthy faces an uphill battle to seize the job he had last year.
Vegas Points to Murray as Overwhelming Frontrunner
Sportsbooks generally have odds for everything, and the Vikings’ quarterback race is no different. VikingzFanPage, an account with nearly 30,000 followers on Twitter (X), tweeted Wednesday, “Kyler Murray is the overwhelming favorite (-1000) to start week 1 for the Vikings, per FanDuel. J.J. McCarthy (+600) and Carson Wentz (+7000) trail him.”
As a point of reference, a -1,000 moneyline is close to the equivalent of an NFL kicker connecting on a 25-yard field goal. That’s how automatic Murray is for oddsmakers later this summer.
Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud
The telling part about the gambling odds? This is what most reasonable Vikings expect as the ultimate outcome.
When the Cardinals ousted Murray in March, it was just kind of a generalized assumption that he would land with the Vikings. The momentum emerged immediately, and with very little suspense, he signed in Minnesota.. That was that.
While every athlete should have to earn his spot on the roster, all signs point to Murray, pretty damn strongly indicating he was signing with the Vikings as the QB1. The team either insinuated it, or Murray is confident enough to know that he’s not losing a camp battle to McCarthy.
SI.com‘s Thomas Carelli noted on Murray this week, “While his QB1 job has yet to be confirmed, the expectation is that Murray will easily beat out JJ McCarthy, if that even is a competition. It is fair to question how good Murray is. However, he finds himself in the perfect situation. Murray plays indoors for an offensive wizard and quarterback expert in Kevin O’Connell.”
“He has Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Jauan Jennings at his disposal. Beyond that, the Vikings roster includes TJ Hockenson at tight end and a solid 1-2 running back duo of Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason. Murray is ranked just inside the top-20 quarterbacks as of now. Given the talent surrounding him, the upside is absolutely that of a top-10 fantasy football quarterback, if not even higher.”
Don’t Forget Injuries for Both Men
Why is Minnesota’s quarterback room so deep? Easy — the main three guys have documented and recent injury history.
Murray has missed 26% of all career starts due to injury. Hell, he played just five games in 2025. The speedy passer has two knocks on his resume: he’s not very tall, and he’s not very durable. One must assume that stature contributes to the injury history.
How about McCarthy? Well, he has a wild injury history after having no major ailments in high school or college. A clean bill of health is one thing that made his 2024 draft stock so attractive — McCarthy hardly ever got hurt.
However, he arrived in the Twin Cities and began experiencing a bizarre parade of injuries, including a torn meniscus, high ankle sprain, concussion, and broken hand. To date, McCarthy has been unavailable for about 73% of all Vikings games. Not ideal.
Finally, Wentz played five games for the Vikings last year before going down with a torn labrum. He claims to be fully healed now, but his shoulder failed him last season.
Between the three, the Vikings assume that one quarterback will stay healthy. They can’t all three get hurt and lost for the season, right?
Wentz and Brosmer Lurking
Murray as the sportsbooks’ frontrunner? Check. McCarthy as the probable QB2? Check. That leaves Wentz and second-year passer Max Brosmer as contingency plans.
Wentz played decently in five starts last year, guiding Minnesota to a 2-3 record on his watch. The offense showed more consistency with him under center than with McCarthy.
On Brosmer, he stunk as a rookie. He often played buffoonishly. Still, a quarterback isn’t defined by a couple of games in his rookie season. Like thousands before him, Brosmer still has time to develop as an NFL quarterback, probably a guy with QB2 upside.
The NFL schedule was released on Thursday night; Minnesota is hosting Green Bay in Week 1. It’ll be trial by fire for Murray against Minnesota’s main rival right away.
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