Who Is Going To Win the Minnesota Vikings Starting QB Job?

The Minnesota Vikings have one of the deepest receiving groups in football. They also have a quarterback room about to start one of the most-watched competitions in the NFL.

Tom Pelissero, on the show, refused to put a thumb on the scale.

"They envision it being a true competition," Pelissero said of the Kyler Murray and JJ McCarthy duel. "Both these guys are going to go into this believing they're going to win this job."

The room itself, Pelissero acknowledged, will not be a comfortable one.

"I don't know, frankly, how friendly that quarterback room is going to be," he said.

The skill-set overlap is the part that makes this competition real. Both quarterbacks bring mobility, though Pelissero noted that nobody on the planet moves quite like Murray. McCarthy's foot speed, Pelissero said with a nod to Rich's Michigan loyalty, is good enough to extend plays.

The structural case splits roughly down the middle.

McCarthy has two years in the offense. Pelissero called it a roller coaster, full of stretches that flashed and stretches that did not, plus a recurring injury list that has kept the staff from getting a clean read on what he is over a healthy season.

Murray's case is the résumé. Pro Bowls. Playoff appearances. Still only 28 years old. He has not played in this offense, which is the gap McCarthy has on him. He has also dealt with serious injuries of his own, including the torn ACL and the foot issue from last year that he never fully returned from.

Pelissero called the battle the league's most fascinating quarterback competition.

"From everything that I have understood, it is truly wide open," he said.

OTAs start in a couple of weeks. The receiver room — Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and the recently signed Jauan Jennings — is set. The question is which quarterback gets the first crack at throwing to them.

The Vikings, in Pelissero's read, are letting the football decide.