Vikings training camp competitions: Is the starting QB job up for grabs?

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said Monday, “It’s going to be a very competitive camp at multiple positions.” We’re taking a look at each of those camp competitions as training camp gets underway Wednesday. First up: Quarterbacks.

For as frequently as Kirk Cousins’ future in Minnesota seemed at an inflection point over the past six seasons, the Vikings enjoyed remarkable stability with him at quarterback. Cousins started 91 of the team’s 102 regular season and postseason games from 2018-23, pushing himself to second or third on many of the franchise’s career passing statistics with a consistency few Vikings QBs have matched.

It wasn’t enough, though, for the Vikings to make a long-term commitment to him or meet his demands in a series of contract negotiations over the past three offseasons. And with Cousins now in Atlanta, the Vikings have moved on to their next chapter at quarterback.

Sam Darnold begins training camp as the No. 1 quarterback, but there’ll be plenty of attention on first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, who became the highest-drafted QB in Vikings history when the team selected him 10th overall in April. McCarthy’s development will be the biggest story of training camp, and even as Darnold gets the first chance to start, the success of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell’s tenure could hinge on what McCarthy becomes.

Here is a look at the quarterback competition as the Vikings begin training camp:

Cousins was near the top of the NFL in nearly every passing category when he tore his right Achilles tendon at Lambeau Field on Oct. 29, and the Vikings used three starting quarterbacks in their final nine games, going 3-6 without him. Two of those three starters — Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall — remain on the roster, but Hall looked raw enough and Mullens turned the ball over frequently enough that neither entered the 2024 season with a clear path to the starting job.

In: Sam Darnold (signed as free agent), J.J. McCarthy (first-round pick)

Out: Kirk Cousins (signed with Atlanta)

Though the Vikings will have competition at quarterback, it’d seem a stretch to say all their passers begin camp with an equal chance to start. O’Connell said in June that Darnold would head into training camp as his No. 1 QB, based on the work he’d done with the Vikings in the spring, and the team seems intent enough on a deliberate path for McCarthy that it’d be a surprise to see the 21-year-old come out of training camp as the starter. The biggest question might be how the Vikings rank their quarterbacks behind Darnold; Mullens could be the No. 2 option if the Vikings want to keep McCarthy on a slower timeline. Hall, who played three games as a rookie, will need to show he can play faster than he did last year to factor into the competition.

What will McCarthy’s trajectory look like? O’Connell said Monday he doesn’t want to put a “preset ceiling or floor” on McCarthy, adding the Vikings have set up their quarterback room with the rookie’s development in mind. That could mean Mullens starts as the No. 2 quarterback to give McCarthy time to master things like the footwork changes the Vikings have coached him to make, and the precision he’ll need on passes through layers of zone coverage. He’ll get plenty of time with O’Connell, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and assistant QB coach Grant Udinski, as the Vikings try to help him become the franchise QB they need. It’ll likely be the command he shows of their offense, and the mastery he displays of the quarterbacking details they value, that dictate when he starts more than how he compares to Darnold or Mullens at the end of this camp.