Remember when you were in elementary school, and it was a really big deal among the boys who the fastest kid in the class was? Well, I still remember the fastest kid in my class. His name was Alex, and I hated that kid. Why? Because I was the second-fastest kid in the class.
Every P.E. class, every recess, I was desperate to finally prove I could beat him. Never happened. As he bested me time and again, I resented him more and more, like some sort of cartoon rival. Alex never even worried about me. He just kept smoking me every time we got on the track. Ultimately, I don’t think my desperation and pettiness were helping me get any faster.
I appreciate your indulgence, and I promise that in that story, there is a point about the Minnesota Vikings quarterback battle. I feel you, J.J. I know what you’re going through. You’ve been the fastest kid in class everywhere you’ve gone in your career before arriving in Minnesota. Now, you’re just trying to keep up with the new kid.
As J.J. McCarthy got repeatedly badgered by the gathered press about the obvious, Kyler Murray-sized elephant in the room, McCarthy didn’t come off well. He sounded bitter and gave his critics plenty of ammo to use against him.
Meanwhile, Murray came off calm, cool, and collected, seemingly unfazed by the pressure of winning the starting job. Instead, he appeared to be looking to improve the team. The press threw Murray more softball questions that day than they did to McCarthy. Still, Kyler handled it like a pro, making McCarthy look even more petulant by comparison.
While this all may just be offseason fodder in late May, there is something to glean here. This should be a stark reminder that, while J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray are running on the same track, they’re running completely different races. Their timelines, goals, urgency, and the pressure on them are completely different, and it makes sense that their attitudes may be different as well.
McCarthy’s fall from the organization’s good graces is clearly a frustrating situation for him. His entire career trajectory seems to be hanging by a thread. When Minnesota moved up to draft him in the top 10, he was supposed to be the quarterback of the future, being handed the keys to this Ferrari of an offense with a clear track ahead of him. Instead, a combination of injuries, tough rookie moments, and occasional abysmal play from his teammates culminated in a disaster last season.
Still, if McCarthy has a future in this league, much less Minnesota, the urgency to get things back on track and make a positive impression is powerful. He needs to do everything to set himself up for a chance to capture an opportunity when he steps onto the field this season. He could get one due to injury, poor play ahead of him, or simply taking a massive step forward in camp this offseason.
If McCarthy is going to turn things around in Minnesota, Murray is the biggest obstacle in his way. But his ability to surpass Kyler Murray one way or another may be undermined by all the outside noise swirling around him.
He needs to be working on getting better, but he’s clearly got his eyes on Kyler ahead of him in first place.
Meanwhile, Murray isn’t trying to beat out J.J. McCarthy. That’s a given. Even if the Vikings aren’t explicitly giving the QB1 gig to him, in Kyler’s mind, there’s zero doubt that it will happen. He has every expectation of winning this battle, and he should. He’s the veteran, and even with his reputation for inconsistency, he’s a far cry more consistent than anything we’ve ever seen out of McCarthy at the NFL level. Kyler’s goals go beyond McCarthy and beyond Minnesota if we’re being honest.
Murray is trying to reassert himself as a franchise quarterback, particularly with his pending free agency this offseason. He isn’t competing against McCarthy. He’s competing with every other quarterback on the free-agent market or trade block next offseason. Kyler is running a totally different race, and it’s one he feels confident he can win.
McCarthy is like me in fourth grade, seething as I huff and puff to keep up with Alex. Meanwhile, Kyler — J.J.’s Alex, if you will — is just gonna keep getting faster.
If I could make another strained metaphor, as a parent, my favorite kid show to watch with my daughter is Bluey. My favorite episode is called “Baby Race,” where the mom tells the story to her daughters of how she became so stressed when Bluey was first born that she wasn’t walking as early as the little girl next door, and how she felt like she was doing a terrible job raising her child, who was falling behind.
Later, another mom came up and told her she was doing great and that she “just needed to run her own race,” rather than comparing her kid to other kids or herself to other parents. It’s usually around that part of the episode when my wife and I start crying.
If you don’t take it from me, J.J., take it from Bluey: Run your own race. Turn yourself into the caliber of quarterback capable of never letting this job go again the next time fate gives you a crack at the starting lineup. Murray is already cruising towards his goal, not knowing whether he’ll eventually wind up staying in Minnesota or launching himself onto the open market with the best chance to earn top dollar. Either way, he’s not looking back at McCarthy nipping at his heels right now; he’s looking forward.
