The Minnesota Vikings quietly won nine games in the 2025 NFL Season, so while it may feel like, on the outside, that this team is a mess, that couldn't be further from the truth. Over the past two regular seasons, this team has gone 23-11 in the regular season, and head coach Kevin O'Connell has won over 63 percent of his games in four years with the team.
He's done this with a plethora of different quarterbacks, and after a clear slip-up with Sam Darnold, the team is now surely hoping that Kyler Murray could become the next Darnold in Minnesota, and if that does happen, the front office would absolutely work to retain him beyond just this year, which they failed to do with the now-Seattle Seahawks quarterback.
Even with J.J. McCarthy in the quarterback room, this 'competition' for the starting quarterback job feels like anything but that. Given the urgency of the situation, it's not a stretch to think that a non-playoff season could result in some tough decisions being made, and this latest Vikings prediction would absolutely
Minnesota Vikings QB Kyler Murray is predicted to make the Pro Bowl and win Comeback Player of the Year in 2026
For Bleacher Report, Gary Davenport predicted that Murray would not only make the Pro Bowl in 2026, but also win the Comeback Player of the Year award:
"Beating out McCarthy shouldn't be especially difficult—Murray has shown exponentially more upside in the pros than McCarthy has over two injury-marred years.
The tools are there for Murray in Minnesota—the Vikes have a decent offensive line and run game and Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jauan Jennings are one of the better wide receiver trios in the league. Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell has already brought one quarterback back to life in Sam Darnold in 2024.
O'Connell will scheme his offense to Murray's strengths. The team around him is playoff-caliber. And Murray has shown he can play—he has completed over 67 percent of his passes and has twice as many touchdown throws as interceptions.
Add it all up, and it will be time for another Lazarus act, with Murray leading the Vikings to the postseason, making his third Pro Bowl and winning Comeback Player of the Year."
Davenport makes a compelling argument, and it's not a stretch, either. As we saw with Darnold back in 2024, O'Connell clearly knows how to tweak an offense to the strengths of his quarterback. In the four years before playing for the Vikings, Darnold had amassed a 10-20 record as a starter with 27 touchdown passes and 28 interceptions.
When Darnold initially signed with the Vikings, most didn't think it would turn out the way it did. The thing that Murray has going for him is how productive he's been before this new stint with the Vikings.
Murray isn't some cast-off quarterback like Darnold was before the breakout 2024 season. The former Arizona Cardinals quarterback has 153 total touchdowns and 60 interceptions in seven seasons. He's been a competent, efficient passer, completing 67.1 percent of his throws.
Additionally, you could easily argue that the personnel surrounding Murray on offense would be the best he's had in his career thus far. Add it all up, and you get the potential for a breakout season. Sure, Murray isn't a legitimate drop-back passer, but O'Connell knows that, and the offense we'll see in 2026 will absolutely be tailored to Murray's strengths.
We'll see the quarterback out in space more with a ton of play-action and a plethora of bootleg opportunities. With a proactive head coach, a borderline-elite group of personnel around him, and an extra chip on his shoulder, a Pro Bowl and Comeback Player of the Year season in 2026 would not be out of the realm of possibilities.
What we should be asking ourselves is just how good Murray is going to be - he's always been a good, not great, quarterback in this league, but much of that could have been the below-average teams he was playing on.
While the Vikings clearly have an uphill battle in the loaded NFC North, the pathway is there for this team to explode in 2026.
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