The Other Vikings Quarterback Earns a Strong Review from the Head Coach
Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is the starter. Only some form of disaster — either in his level of play or within his health — will undermine the basic reality.
Next up is Sam Howell, someone who entered the NFL in 2022 with the Commanders before then shifting into a depth role with the Seahawks for 2024. He was acquired by Minnesota during the 2025 NFL Draft in one of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s trades to function as the main backup. The real battle appears to be at QB3, a competition that consists of veteran journeyman Brett Rypien versus UDFA rookie Max Brosmer.
The Other Vikings Quarterback Question:
Is It Brett Rypien or Max Brosmer at QB3 in MIN?
Consider Kevin O’Connell among those who are impressed with Brosmer, someone who put in work as a Gopher in 2024.
Chatting with the media in June, O’Connell tossed some praise to his undrafted rookie for his brains: “I think Max has done a, Max is as smart as any young player that I’ve been around from a standpoint of, really hadn’t been exposed to a lot of reps this spring. But his ownership of the information, kind of right on par.”
Brosmer, for whatever it’s worth, appears to be settling in nicely. After all, he quickly jumped out to a bit of trash talking in the early days of putting in work on the practice field. Good to see that he’s comfortable; good to hear from O’Connell that he’s keeping up with the scheme.
There’s no such thing as a Kevin O’Connell quarterback who can’t process a lot of information. In the past, the topic has come up. The O’Connell offense involves a lot of work on an intellectual level, so whoever is under center needs to have some brainy bandwidth. Partner the mental acuity with a strong, accurate arm and O’Connell will be a happy playcaller.
On the NFL website, Lance Zierlein offered a scouting report on Max Brosmer: “Confident, cerebral quarterback with average traits who proved he could play at the FBS level. Brosmer has an average arm but throws with anticipation and a sudden release. His ball placement needs work to become more accomplished against tight man coverage, but he can pick apart zone coverages with intermediate throws. He’s asked to read and attack coverages, and can do so when in rhythm, but his production nosedives when the pocket heats up and he’s forced to move. Brosmer’s lack of mobility and second-reaction playmaking hurts his chances, but he should be appealing to a play-action based offense utilizing levels route concepts.”
Some things stand out in that assessment. Being “cerebral” is a good thing and so, too, is Brosmer’s ability to target the “intermediate” area of the field; that’s where Justin Jefferson has been known to feast. Working off of play-action and with “levels route concepts” is also noteworthy since those are key features of the Vikings’ offense.
Max Brosmer’s work in 2024 impressed PFF. The analytics website tossed an 84.0 grade in his direction, suggesting he had a strong year leading P.J. Fleck’s team. The grade put him at 41st among 306 quarterbacks considered in the ranking.
To a certain extent, Brosmer’s basic statistics are reminiscent of McCarthy’s from college insofar as there’s good accuracy but not gigantic volume. Brosmer completed 66.5% of his passes while picking up 2,828 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions for a 137.2 rating. McCarthy’s final season in college involved completing 72.3% of his passes for 2,991 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions for a 167.4 rating.
Minnesota’s ideal world is going to involve seeing Max Brosmer slide into the QB3 job for 2025. The team could then invest in his development even further with the aim of stapling him to McCarthy’s side for the long term, eventually elevating Brosmer to being a strong QB2.
Luring Mr. Brosmer back to Minnesota meant giving him $244,000 in guaranteed money.
Editor’s Note: Information from Sports Reference CFP, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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