It’s been said recently that Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell wants to put J.J. McCarthy in difficult situations. Suppose you think McCarthy is in a difficult situation, sending rocket balls to Mars because he’s playing behind a leaky offensive line. In that case, Vikings fans also believe they’re in a difficult situation watching another quarterback who may not have what it takes to play in the NFL.
Nobody wants to admit it, but Vikings fans are often very impatient. Sixty-four years without a Super Bowl will do that to a fanbase. It becomes apparent when McCarthy struggles because the posts for Max Brosmer start pouring in on social media.
Brosmer, the undrafted quarterback who capped off an eight-win season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers this time a year ago, has become an underground hero for angry Vikings fans. They watched him make solid throws during the preseason. They’ve heard about how fast he can process on the field. They think there’s no way Brosmer could be worse than an injured Carson Wentz or an erratic McCarthy. Some even theorize that O’Connell isn’t playing him because he might be better than McCarthy.
According to The Athletic, the Vikings have a 2% chance of making the playoffs, so those fans may ask what the Vikings have to lose by throwing Brosmer in there. But in some ways, Brosmer is the car that Tim Allen’s character was always working on during the ‘90s sitcom Home Improvement.
When Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor wasn’t asking Wilson for advice or blowing something up, he was working on his car to escape the stressors in his life, dreaming of taking it for a spin. That’s kind of how O’Connell has handled Brosmer’s development.
Brosmer came into training camp as a practice squad candidate but wound up outperforming Sam Howell and Brett Rypien, earning a roster spot. O’Connell referred to Brosmer as “as smart as any young player that I’ve been around.” In The Athletic, Alec Lewis highlighted how he learned to dissect coverages at a young age and process them quickly.
After being a finalist for the Walter Payton Award (the Football Championship Subdivision’s version of the Heisman Trophy), Brosmer transferred from the University of New Hampshire to Minnesota. Even though he moved up a level, he had to slow his processing speed to adjust to the Football Bowl Subdivision. Brosmer put up modest stats with the Gophers, completing 66.5% of his passes for 18 touchdowns and six interceptions, but went undrafted.
Some scouts would tell you teams made a mistake. In Lewis’ article, he mentioned that the director of the East-West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko, “invoked the name of Brock Purdy as a comparison.”
Considering the Vikings were interested in Purdy before the San Francisco 49ers selected him with the final pick of the 2022 draft, it was a perfect match. But as McCarthy struggles, fans who are familiar with Brosmer are wondering why O’Connell hasn’t put him in a game, given the quarterback situation is in flux.
Some of the answers are political. Top-10 draft picks usually have a longer leash than other players. Whether you’re sold on McCarthy or not, he’s going to get every chance to prove himself as the Vikings’ franchise quarterback. It’s the reason why Wentz has started for six different teams after flaming out with the Philadelphia Eagles early in his career. It’s also part of the path that led Sam Darnold to Minnesota one year ago.
Let’s say that McCarthy just needs more time to develop, like Darnold did before finding his footing with the Vikings. They would be kicking themselves if they had thrown Brosmer into the game on a whim and McCarthy had gone somewhere else, figured it out, and become what everyone thought he would be.
It’s a process that requires patience and could pay off in the long run. It seemed to be what All 32’s Brett Kollmann said in his latest video this week while discussing late bloomers such as Darnold and Daniel Jones.
“Just remember that while you’re watching young quarterbacks around the league right now – particularly the ones that are struggling – this is an entirely new sport for them,” Kollmann said. “Time can not guarantee that they will develop, but … swapping out one young, overwhelmed quarterback for another young, overwhelmed quarterback probably will not produce the results you think it will.”
Kollmann may as well be talking to Brosmer’s supporters because the other half of the equation is tied to development. While we haven’t seen any glaring issues with Brosmer, that doesn’t mean they may not arise during practice.
Brosmer is going through the same things McCarthy is right now, since McCarthy didn’t practice last season due to injury. But while McCarthy is making mistakes on a team that won 14 games one year ago, Brosmer can make those mistakes in the controlled environment of a team practice. That will allow Brosmer to use trial and error to fix his issues and continue to grow.
Should that happen, the Vikings could benefit greatly.
If McCarthy shows growth in the final seven games, Brosmer could develop into Minnesota’s backup quarterback for next season, allowing the Vikings to skip the bidding war over backup quarterbacks next spring. If McCarthy stumbles, Brosmer can work on his game throughout the offseason and potentially push for a chance to take McCarthy’s job in 2026.
Of course, the Brosmer fans tweeting clearly lack patience with McCarthy. Those same boat-rowers could also be quick to toss Brosmer overboard if he makes the same mistakes, a possibility considering he has five fewer games of starting experience than McCarthy.
I’m not saying McCarty or Brosmer are destined to be busts. But while O’Connell throws McCarthy, hoping that the engine will eventually turn over, he can quietly work on Brosmer and develop his long-term backup plan.