Minnesota Vikings quarterback competition could hinge on lessons learned from year’s past
Kyler Murray’s comments about the quarterback competition sparked some interesting comments from Wes Phillips.
The first day of mandatory minicamp practices on Tuesday brought interesting comments from Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray, as he spoke about the difficulties of the competition.
“I think the toughest part is having to split reps. It’s me already being behind, not getting the amount of reps that you know you would typically want to, gotta get learning an offense. That’s probably the toughest part. Again, going back to the past, being in control of everything, understanding what we were already doing, because I was comfortable within the system. Now, [I] come to new system, learning on the fly, trying to play fast, efficient, and then let it loose while learning. That’s the toughest part.”
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray
Kyler Murray vs. J.J. McCarthy Competition
- The Vikings made it clear it was a genuine quarterback competition between the two after they signed Murray in March.
- During practices available to the media, members of the beat has consistently mentioned the aspect of Murray being much more talented.
- Throughout the summer, both quarterbacks have been given relatively equal reps.
Minnesota VIkings have learned from past mistakes
Teaching a veteran the offense isn’t always the easiest thing. We saw the issues that Carson Wentz had last year without having an offseason to get acclimated. Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold both had to learn them in an offseason, which is what Kyler Murray has to do.
The difference with Murray’s offseason versus the other two is simple: a genuine quarterback competition. Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips talked about that on Wednesday afternoon.
“I think if I’ve learned anything from coming in new with Kirk [Cousins], and with the whole offense, is we probably installed too much. It’s like, hey, we got to get our offense in, and you’re pushing the envelope, and I think backing off where still a lot of volume, it’s NFL football, but understanding that we don’t have to get every variation of every concept in right now. Let’s let’s try to make sure we can come back, hit the play again, make sure that you know each guy’s getting getting a rep or two per week of each concept that we’re installing to make sure that we’ve got a good grasp, good understanding whether we had to learn from a rep prior or whether we were successful.”
Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips
The offense that the Vikings run is known to be somewhat complicated. It requires a lot of timing routes and knowing how to run the same play with dozens of different formations and personnel groupings. Every quarterback can throw a dagger concept, but it won’t be the same every time.
Murray is currently in the midst of just that. It isn’t the easiest transition for a quarterback, especially since he’s in a competition with J.J. McCarthy. Will they end the quarterback competition earlier to get him that? It’s unlikely, but certainly worth monitoring.