If the Minnesota Vikings were to determine the winner of their current quarterback competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy by their total reps in practice this summer, then it would be pretty even.
Since the start of Minnesota's training camp last week, Murray has been on the practice field for 146 snaps, according to numbers recorded by SKOR North's Judd Zulgad, which is only 10 more than the 136 snaps that McCarthy has been on the field for during camp.
But thanks to Zulgad also keeping track of how many first-team reps each Vikings quarterback has had, we're now starting to see one of them really pull away in the battle to be the team's QB1 for the 2026 season.
According to Zulgad, Murray has had a total of 63 reps with Minnesota's first-team offense in the last four practices (since August 1), while McCarthy has only had 33 opportunities to work with the first-team offense during that same time period.
Even if you're not good at math, it seems pretty obvious which direction the Vikings' quarterback battle is trending towards, and it's not to McCarthy.
Minnesota Vikings will be better off naming a starting QB sooner rather than later
After an off day on Thursday, Minnesota has two more afternoon practice sessions before taking the field inside TCO Stadium for their annual night practice on Sunday evening.
If Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell hasn't decided on a winner of his quarterback "battle" by the end of Sunday's practice, then it's only going to hurt the team moving forward.
If Murray continues to trend towards winning the job, then make him QB1 after Sunday so he can have as much time to prepare with Minnesota's first-team offense before the regular-season opener against the Green Bay Packers.
If McCarthy is ultimately going to come up short in the competition, then let him work exclusively with the second-team offense so he can continue his development without the added pressure that comes with competing for a starting job.
O'Connell thought, or at least he expressed to the public, that the quarterback battle would bring out the best in each player.
This has seemed to be true for Murray, who continues to get a grasp of the offense more and more each day. But for McCarthy, the competition has caused him to stress about every little thing he does out on the field, and it's had a significant effect on his processing time.
Running the second-team offense for the rest of training camp would likely be more beneficial for McCarthy in the long run if he's ever going to reach his full potential.
If the Vikings ever want that to happen, then picking a winner for their quarterback competition is something they should do in the very near future.
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