There seems to always be a "but" when discussing new Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray.
He is a huge improvement from their starting quarterback from 2025, J.J. McCarthy, to be sure. He was also featured on a perpetually struggling Arizona Cardinals team that simply couldn't get anywhere thanks to their generally poor health and roster construction.
But...there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about Murray's ability to succeed in Minnesota. Their offensive line is fine, but not some juggernaut of a unit. Murray is also not a star quarterback, nor a large presence, and it's hard to imagine a world where he can pick apart defenses in the NFC consistently.
ESPN's Ben Solak made all of the above arguments against the Vikings and Murray, and still picked them to win the NFC North.
"The Vikings are the only defense I trust in this division...Brian Flores continues chugging along as the best defensive coordinator in the NFL. His creative maximizations of subpar talent stand above the work done by Philly's Vic Fangio and Denver's Vance Joseph on superior rosters..."
"If the Vikings' defense remains a needle-moving unit, then a functional offense could return them to their 2024 status under QB Sam Darnold."
Lions tabbed to miss out on title thanks to an untrustworthy Vikings QB situation
The Lions, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers have extremely strong quarterback play, with the Lions and Packers with arguably the best quarterback play amongst the three. Chicago's Caleb Williams just graced this year's Madden cover, so the jury is still out on him.
In all seriousness, you'd bank on Jordan Love and Jared Goff as more veteran, established signal callers within their respective systems over Williams, and you'd likely take all three over Murray at this juncture. A stronger argument for Goff over these three would be that Detroit's offense is one of the best in the league, and the best in the NFC North.
READ MORE: The 'Curse of Darius Slay' and the Lions' struggles in drafting a CB
Solak notes that defense is what swung his opinion here. That's fair - the Lions' secondary may or may not be in shambles headed into this season. It all depends on whether Kerby Joseph can actually suit up to start the year, and whether their Terrion Arnold replacement can be a great starter next to D.J. Reed.
Green Bay's defense is headed by Micah Parsons, of course, but he'll be out until October. Chicago's defense looks in better shape than it was in 2025, as well, so Minnesota might not be the only solid unit in the division. Couple that with them not even having a top offense, and this argument forms some irreparable cracks.
Add us as a preferred source on Google