Max Brosmer Is Walking into a Dream Scenario
Undrafted rookie quarterback Max Brosmer faces a real chance to play this Sunday at the Seattle Seahawks after Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy entered concussion protocol on Monday. And while Brosmer’s opponent, the Seattle Seahawks, is no cakewalk, the rookie somehow faces a dream scenario at Lumen Field.
Max Brosmer is walking into a dream scenario with the Vikings, as opportunity and timing align to give the rookie a real chance to climb.
Hear us out: Brosmer is in a really sweet spot.
Max Brosmer’s Situation Might Be Better Than Anyone Realizes
At Seattle? Sure, why not?
The Bar to Outperform McCarthy Is Low
The very first thing Brosmer has in his favor? His teammate: McCarthy.
McCarthy has played unbelievably poorly aside from a few clutch moments in six games, ranking at the bottom of the NFL in 2025 per quarterback efficiency and near the basement in NFL history among all quarterbacks through six starts.
He’s completing 54.1% of his passes, and most quarterbacks hop on the hot seat when they get as low as 60.0%. McCarthy is much grimmer than that.
Essentially, all Brosmer must do on Sunday is not play pitifully. That’s really it. If he completes standard passes and avoids gruesome mistakes, he will stand off the page because the six McCarthy games to date have inspired little hope.
It’s like a 45-degree Minnesota day in March after months of near-zero temperatures. Feels great.
No One Expects a Win
Meanwhile, the Vikings are now 10.5-point underdogs against the Seahawks. The line moved from 8.5 points to 10.5 when McCarthy entered the concussion protocol.
Minnesota is not supposed to win this game. Full stop. Per DVOA, Seattle is the second-best team in the NFL, Lumen Field is one of the most challenging road venues in the business, and the Vikings almost never play well in the Emerald City.
Brosmer is not under center this weekend to fundamentally save the season. Those chances evaporated when Minnesota lost back-to-back games at home to the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears. Brosmer gets to operate with house money on a team starved for merely mediocre — or good — quarterback play.
The expectations are low.
Playoff-Less Team Begging for a QB Answer
The Vikings have a 2.4% chance of reaching the postseason, according to sportsbooks. They’re done. The loss in Green Bay absolutely slammed the door shut. Minnesota would have to finish the season undefeated in the next six games — and then get help from other teams to participate in the January tournament.
Not happening.
What Minnesota needs, though, is competent quarterback performance. If Brosmer has the poise and seizes his moment, a stat line in the ballpark of 175 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception will make Brosmer feel like a Pro Bowler after what onlookers have experienced during the McCarthy rollercoaster.
NFL scout Eric Galko even said via The Athletic, “I’ll stand by it. I’ll be really surprised if Max does not start games in the NFL early. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Max is going to run the offense at a high level. He’s not going to miss throws he shouldn’t miss. He’s going to trust the offense.”
Brosmer has one job on a team basically eliminated from the playoffs: just complete passes and get some first downs. Unless he stinks as well, that’s a really breezy request.
Beat Sam Darnold? Get a Key to the City.
Finally, the Vikings will face the guy they couldn’t afford during free agency eight months ago.
Darnold guided Minnesota to a 14-3 record last year, on the back of 35 touchdowns, before he turned into a pumpkin at the worst possible time. When Minnesota and Darnold played horribly in the 2024 playoff loss, almost all Vikings fans were happy to see Darnold trend toward leaving, knowing that McCarthy’s rookie upside awaited.
Conveniently, the same folks who said, “Get Darnold off my team!” now criticize the Vikings for letting him leave. McCarthy is not good in Minnesota; Darnold is good in Seattle.
It’s a nightmare scenario brewing for the Vikings this Sunday, facing the “one that got away,” Brosmer has a chance to beat Darnold and the Seahawks. He’d be revered if he pulled it off. It’s a revenge game for Darnold, with no revenge angle for Brosmer.
If he loses, no one will care because he’s just an undrafted rookie quarterback. House money.
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