Expectations are high for a Minnesota Vikings offense that has QB Kyler Murray running the show. Murray has set off […]
Expectations are high for a Minnesota Vikings offense that has QB Kyler Murray running the show. Murray has set off some fireworks in his previous seven seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. Teaming him up with names like Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison with Kevin O’Connell calling the plays screams big plays, long touchdowns, and long days for opposing defenses.
Expectations are so high for Kyler Murray that he’s been garnering some attention for a prestigious NFL award.
Vikings’ Kyler Murray Predicted to Win NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award
Mike Tannenbaum, an NFL analyst for ESPN, recently threw Kyler Murray’s name into the hat for 2026 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
“Murray steps into an ideal system with coach Kevin O’Connell and receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. I think the Vikings can go 11-6, clinch the NFC North and win a playoff game with the former Cardinals QB at the helm.”
Murray will have some big-time competition for the award. Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes will technically be in the running for the award, after he tore his ACL in Week 15 of the 2025 NFL season. Mahomes should be considered a front-runner for any award, and since he is returning from an injury, the Comeback Player of the Year Award is no different.
Other names like Micah Parsons, Malik Nabers, and even Deshaun Watson could be atop the list of nominees by year’s end. Murray does already hold an advantage over players like Parsons and Nabers since he’s a QB, but beating out Patrick Mahomes for any kind of yearly award is no small feat. Murray could make his case absolutely undeniable if he is to hoist the Vikings into a spot from which they could truly contend around playoff time.
Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report also mentioned Murray as a candidate for the award.
“O’Connell will scheme his offense to Murray’s strengths. The team around him is playoff-caliber. And Murray has shown he can play—he has completed over 67 percent of his passes and has twice as many touchdown throws as interceptions.
Add it all up, and it will be time for another Lazarus act, with Murray leading the Vikings to the postseason, making his third Pro Bowl and winning Comeback Player of the Year.”
Kyler Murray Award Nominations Means Good Things All Around for the Vikings
If Kyler Murray is in real consideration for yearly awards, then that very likely means that the Minnesota Vikings are a legitimate threat towards the NFC in the playoffs at the least.
Each time that Kevin O’Connell has had his starting QB for all 17 games of the regular season, the Vikings won at least 13 games. This has only happened twice since O’Connell came to the Twin Cities in 2022, and to be fair, it’s never led to playoff success.
O’Connell needs a competitive team now, and Kyler Murray surely provides a better chance to have that as of right now over J.J. McCarthy. Vikings fans can only hope that the QB position stays healthy, and they don’t have to play three different signal callers over the course of the season for the third time in five seasons in the KOC era.
If that happens, then it will be interesting to see if KOC gets yet another shot at the QB position.
