Expectedly, the Vikings quarterback competition is drawing attention.

J.J. McCarthy, 23, and Kyler Murray, 28, had stretches of good throws during Wednesday's opening practice of 2026 Vikings Training Camp. Both players demonstrated leadership and a grip on the offense.

Last night, Jori Epstein of Yahoo! Sports assessed the position and included insights from wide receiver Justin Jefferson and Offensive Passing Game Coordinator Josh McCown to help differentiate (or not) the dueling passers.

"You see the arm strength," McCown said to Epstein about McCarthy. "He can drive the ball, but it's really taking that next step as a passer and really being able to develop all the clubs in his bag, so to speak."

McCown noted the strides McCarthy made this spring – the third-year pro established an upward-arrow trajectory over his final four starts in 2025, to boot – and the importance of seeing them manifest now.

Murray edges McCarthy in experience (87 starts vs. 10) and has moments of living up to his No. 1 overall draft billing throughout his seven prior seasons. He's obviously newer to the system, though, and so his digestion and application of the playbook – and marriage of his skills to the scheme – is important.

"We've all seen SportsCenter, the stuff that he does with his legs — so you can't discount that…" McCown told Epstein. "But we want to coach him and kind of ask him, to a degree, to operate in our offense and then add his touch to it within that as those plays. The game gives you those opportunities. You don't know when it's going to happen, but those plays come up. And so we're hoping that will be a positive for us if/when that does happen. But it's coaching him as if he's just another Vikings quarterback that's in our system, learning our system, trying to grow him in our system the right way."

"And then again," McCown added, "letting his God-given ability and skill set take over when he plays."

Epstein asked Jefferson if he feels urgency to find out the Week 1 starter (a fair question considering the chemistry a receiver tends to want with a quarterback), but he was indifferent to the timing of the decision.

"It doesn't really matter for me," Jefferson shared. "It would be different if it's like a left-hand thrower from a right-hand thrower. But they're both right-handed. So, it's not really too much of a difference."

Remember, Jefferson isn't the ordinary receiver. Extraordinary even struggles to capture his greatness.

Click here to read Epstein's story on the quarterback situation.

Rookies fit like a glove?

Vikings first-round rookie Caleb Banks participated fully Wednesday to the delight of everyone that waited eagerly this spring for him to finish rehabilitating a foot injury and make his NFL practice debut.

He looked the part, all right. And so did his rookie d-line brethren Domonique "Big Citrus" Orange, who took some reps with the first defense, rotating in at nose tackle for third-year DL Levi Drake Rodriguez.

Orange was handpicked Thursday by FOX Sports draft analyst Rob Rang as Minnesota's "best schematic fit" among its 2026 rookie class. Rang prefaced his article with a historical lesson, that there are plenty of great impacts made by players selected after Day 1. In Orange's case, he touted the third-round pick's tenacity defending the run and his chances to contribute immediately, in the teeth of the unit, after the Vikings parted ways with veteran defensive linemen Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave in the offseason.

Rang's selections for the rest of the NFC North were Bears center Logan Jones, Lions cornerback Keith Abney II and Packers cornerback Brandon Cisse. Jones and Cisse are second-rounders out of Iowa and South Carolina, respectively, and Abney is a fifth-rounder from Arizona State projected to play in the slot.

For what it's worth, Rang's article exploring his NFC rookies to watch featured just two first-round talents in Cowboys safety Caleb Downs, chosen 11^th overall out of Ohio State, and Seattle running back Jadarian Price, the 32^nd pick out of Notre Dame, who is tasked with replacing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III.

Check out Rang's list of players who fit like a glove with their teams here.

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