Vikings Head Coach Goes Bold with QB Claim
In fairness, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell tends to lean toward optimism, so perhaps the thoughts from his recent press conference shouldn’t be taken too far.
Nevertheless, one still perks up when the top coach praises the UDFA rookie passer. Max Brosmer got through the entirety of the 2025 NFL Draft without seeing a team sink a pick into him. Afterwards, Minnesota kept the former Gopher in The Gopher State by getting him under contract as an undrafted talent. He has since proved more promising than Sam Howell and Brett Rypien, getting onto the final roster in the process.
Vikings Head Coach a Believer in Max Brosmer
A basic reality: Mr. Brosmer doesn’t get into the game unless something very bad happens.
He is, by title, the emergency quarterback. Minnesota cannot put Brosmer into the game due to poor performance from the top two arms. That’s not an option. The only option that sees Brosmer get into the game is if injury sidelines J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz.
So, Brosmer’s role is to be a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency player. Health disaster strikes? Sure, turn to the rookie. Otherwise, Brosmer stays on the sideline.
Before going any further, though, consider what O’Connell said.
“Knowing just a lot of the things that Max [Brosmer] did throughout training camp,” O’Connell explains, “with limited reps. In case, that’s why they call it the emergency, if it was a situation like that, I can tell you right now I would have a lot of confidence that Max could go in and do the things required to move the team.”
“Max clearly earned the right to be a guy on our 53,” O’Connell concludes.
Spend some words to unpack what the head coach is saying. Keeping the rookie UDFA wasn’t just about ensuring he didn’t get poached by another team while attempting to slide him down to the practice squad. Rather, there’s some belief about his capacity to offer reasonably strong football in the present moment. The top goal is long-term development but there’s some confidence in the 2025 version of Brosmer.
Now, the expectations can’t be insane. Any game that Brosmer were to get inserted into would be one where much went wrong. There would be injuries to the QB1 and QB2, so we’re talking about a Vikings game where plenty of storm clouds have gathered overhead.
Nevertheless, the fascinating part of Kevin O’Connell’s answer rests in his description of Max Brosmer’s ability to keep the ship moving through storm-tossed waters. The Vikings head coach sees a young arm capable of stepping into the huddle and commanding the offense. Not many UDFA quarterbacks are capable of doing so in their debut season.
Brosmer shouldn’t be understood as being at the same level as the pair of passers ahead of him — that’s why the pair of passers are ahead of him — but O’Connell does have confidence.
If, in fact, Brosmer does get the call to play, then Minnesota would lean heavily on the run, the defense, and the special teams. Any chance of a win would go out the window if some combination of those three things went wonky. Brosmer’s job would involve making smart decisions and taking what’s available as the roster around him shouldered a heavy workload.
On Monday, September 8th, J.J. McCarthy will earn his first ever NFL start. He’ll do so in Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears, a team that’s similarly leaning on a highly-picked passer from the 2024 NFL Draft.
Carson Wentz, someone being praised as a coach in shoulder pads, will be the backup.
The Vikings’ preferred outcome — by an infinite margin — is to see Mr. McCarthy enter the game healthy and leave the game healthy (Wentz, too). If, however, there ends up being a need for QB3 Max Brosmer, there’s some in-house confidence in the undrafted player’s ability to keep the ball moving.
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