Vikings' Kyler Murray, JJ McCarthy show up-and-down signs on training camp day 1
Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
As the Minnesota Vikings are going through a quarterback battle between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy, the team has been going through training camp with a plan in place. While the Vikings' competition with Murray and McCarthy in training camp is far from over, the snaps have been divided up in an interesting way that any fan would want to hear.
Kevin Seifert of ESPN would report from Minnesota's training camp and say that the former Arizona Cardinals star has gotten “roughly two-thirds of the snaps with the first-team offense.” While some could put Murray as having a clear lead in the battle over McCarthy, Seifert would say that the “imbalance can be partially explained by Murray's relative inexperience in the offense,” though it still shows an advantage.
“A rate that might not carry much meaning for a single practice but is a clear pattern over the course of a week, and [Murray] has used them productively,” Seifert wrote. “The imbalance can partially be explained by Murray's relative inexperience in the offense, and the need to get him up to speed. But unless it reverses in the coming week, it is hard to imagine McCarthy — or any player at any position — winning the job while spending the majority of the most important snaps of camp with the second team.”
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Seifert would continue talking about what he has seen from Murray and McCarthy during the Vikings' training camp, saying that “both have produced strong and weak moments over roughly 300 snaps during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills.”
“Each has spent time with the first and second teams. In theory, there is enough time for McCarthy to launch a late run. There have been only two padded practices so far, and there will be six more days of on-field work before the Vikings' first preseason game,” Seifert wrote.
At any rate, it remains to be seen if the newcomer in Murray gets the starting nod or the 23-year-old in McCarthy when Week 1 takes place on Sept. 13 against the Green Bay Packers.