When the Minnesota Vikings signed Kyler Murray to compete for their starting quarterback job, the hope was they got their future at the position, or, at the very least, motivate J.J. McCarthy to become the guy they drafted him to be.

Pro Football Focus’ Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman ranked the starting quarterbacks in the NFL from 1-32, and Murray ranked 21st.

“As has been the case throughout his career, Murray flashed his immense talent in 2025 before injuries once again cut his season short. He was limited to just five starts last year, and he has played a full season only once since 2021. He fell out of favor in Arizona and is now competing with J.J. McCarthy for the starting job in Minnesota.

Murray’s talent is still tantalizing when he is healthy and in rhythm. As recently as the 2024 regular season, he ranked seventh among qualifying quarterbacks in big-time throws (27) and second in yards per carry (7.3). In five starts last season, he earned a respectable 72.2 PFF passing grade.

Murray has shown he can play at a top-eight level, and Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has had plenty of success with less talented quarterbacks. Perhaps the pairing will help lead Minnesota back to the postseason.”

Kyler Murray ranks one spot higher than Aaron Rodgers

It’s noteworthy that Murray was on the list and not McCarthy, but even more so that Murray ranked one spot higher than Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. It’s certainly interesting after the rumored interest last offseason. Wasserman and Chadwick said what’s already been believed for a while: father time has caught up with Rodgers.

“Father Time has caught up with the 42-year-old — he earned just a 68.0 PFF overall grade last year, the worst mark of his career. His 38.1 PFF passing grade under pressure ranked sixth-worst among qualifying quarterbacks.

He has become far more conservative than at any point in his career, as his 6.6-yard average depth of target was a career low and ranked fourth-lowest in the league. Rodgers will try to recapture the magic one final time in 2026, but his best days are clearly behind him.”

Replacing the idea of Rodgers with Murray while they are right next to each other is quite intriguing. We know there was support of signing Rodgers in the building, and it was likely coming from O’Connell. That steam gained even more traction earlier this week when bodycam footage was revealed of a Dianna Russini traffic stop, where she said something interesting about McCarthy.

“Their quarterback sucks.”

Murray being 21st isn’t a surprise. His talent is much better than that, but there are questions about his future. The Arizona Cardinals let him go this offseason after suffering multiple injuries across the past five seasons. Even so, the talent is excellent and Murray can attack every blade of grass with his arm and legs.

The ability that Kyler Murray has to make an insanely difficult throw look as easy as flipping a steak on the grill is astounding pic.twitter.com/NO8l0kuXV2

— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) October 25, 2021

By midseason, the expectation will be that Murray will be much closer to 10th overall.