There’s a reason that the Minnesota Vikings’ over/under win total for the 2025 season is 8.5, according to BetMGM. Despite overhauling their offensive and defensive lines following a 14-3 season, the Vikings have uncertainty at the most important position: quarterback.
Uncertainty surrounds J.J. McCarthy after he missed his entire rookie season with a torn meniscus. He’s yet to play meaningful snaps in the NFL, and he comes from a run-first system at Michigan. Can a guy who played a game manager role in college be expected to take a leap in the NFL, especially when it comes to leading a pass-happy system?
So much of the focus this offseason has been on McCarthy. But Kevin O’Connell may have given a sneak peek at what McCarthy could develop into this preseason. The rise of undrafted rookie Max Brosmer to the active 53-man roster hints that O’Connell’s system might be just as important as the résumés of the players running it.
The suspense may be killing some fans as skeptics take shots at the former Michigan quarterback. But is there really any suspense at all? Are we worrying about a worst-case scenario that isn’t likely with O’Connell at the helm?
There was skepticism when O’Connell took over as head coach in 2022. The Vikings were fielding most of the same team that Mike Zimmer left behind after going 8-9, and they fired him following the 2021 season.
The Vikings went 13-4 with Kirk Cousins in 2022, a quarterback who had gone 70-70-2 in his other 12 seasons combined. Then the quarterback who struggled to consistently elevate his play in clutch moments led 11 comebacks that year.
When Cousins tore his Achilles a year later, the Vikings traded for Joshua Dobbs. Five days after being acquired via trade, Dobbs led the Vikings to a thrilling 31-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Because Dobbs was new to the offense, O’Connell would call the play in his headset and then walk the quarterback through his progressions and where to go with the ball after the snap.
The momentum carried over into a 27-19 win over the New Orleans Saints the following week. Minnesota sat 6-4 and was in the hunt for the playoffs before the “Passtronaut” returned to Earth, but the Vikings were competing for a playoff spot into Week 17.
Then, there was Sam Darnold, the third-overall pick of the 2018 draft. After flaming out with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, the Vikings signed him to be their bridge quarterback ahead of the 2024 draft.
When McCarthy went down, optimism for the season was lost. But O’Connell was ready to show what he could do with a quarterback with a first-round pedigree. Darnold won NFC Offensive Player of the Month in September. The Vikings finished 14-3, and Darnold was heading to his first Pro Bowl after throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns.
For many, moving on from Darnold after his career year in favor of an unproven commodity in McCarthy was too risky. But what those fans were forgetting was that Darnold wasn’t a sure thing when the Vikings signed him.
Darnold had thrown a mere 63 touchdowns and a whopping 56 picks in his first six seasons. ESPN’s cameras infamously caught him saying he was “seeing ghosts” during a Monday Night Football game. Forget counting on him to lead the Vikings to the playoffs. Was he even a guy you could trust in the same room as McCarthy?
Some people also believed that it was too risky to move on from Cousins, who had been playing some of the best football of his career in 2023, even after he went down for the season. But his contract demands were too expensive and too long-term.
The Vikings held the 11th pick in a deep quarterback draft. This was their time to find their future quarterback. Even if Cousins was the theoretically safer bet in 2024, he would only sign if the Vikings were to offer a multi-year deal. He eventually signed a four-year, $180 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons.
As it turns out, Cousins didn’t even finish the 2024 season as Atlanta’s starter. He threw only one touchdown pass and nine interceptions in his final five starts before they benched him in favor of Michael Penix in Week 16.
Heading into the 2025 offseason, the Vikings faced a similar quarterback dilemma to the one they had a year before. Should they bring back Darnold, or move on to the younger, cheaper option in McCarthy?
The Vikings took the riskier move, electing to trust their franchise in McCarthy’s hands. Darnold signed a three-year, $100 million deal with the Seattle Seahawks, freeing up space for Minnesota to bolster the roster around McCarthy.
It’s natural for teammates and coaches to praise a young quarterback during the offseason. Everyone spoke highly of McCarthy’s work ethic and leadership throughout the spring and summer. He displayed his arm strength early in camp, and he began developing a connection with Jordan Addison.
J.J. McCarthy to a diving Jordan Addison for 18 yards pic.twitter.com/DB2KgGoX3y
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) August 9, 2025
But we haven’t seen it on the field, yet. He only played one offensive series in the preseason, a 13-play, 58-yard drive that ended with a field goal against the Houston Texans. McCarthy was four for seven for 30 yards, and he also ran for a first down. It was neither extraordinary nor worrisome. It just looked like a young, promising player playing his first live snaps in a year.
However, it was Brosmer who signaled that this regime evaluates this position well. Leading third and fourth-string players, he went five of eight passing for 47 yards and a touchdown against Houston. For those who had followed along through training camp, this wasn’t a surprise, as Brosmer had been impressing for weeks with his command of the offense.
Bosmer finished the preseason 35 of 58 passing for 364 yards and two touchdowns. His lone interception came on a last-second pass into the end zone in Minnesota’s second preseason game. It also blemished an otherwise solid stat line.
Brosmer’s strong camp and preseason earned him a spot on the active roster. The Vikings traded away Sam Howell and released Brett Rypien, who entered the summer ahead of Brosmer. Minnesota signed Carson Wentz to be their QB2, indicating that Brosmer’s inexperience was seemingly the only thing standing in the way of being McCarthy’s immediate backup.
Why is Brosmer’s ascension to the active roster important in projecting McCarthy’s future success? Because the Vikings identified Brosmer as an UDFA who could make their roster. Sure, playing college ball across town helps get you noticed. But that alone isn’t enough to warrant a roster spot on a team.
Unlike the previous quarterbacks, who had previous NFL tape (good and bad), signing Brosmer required a different kind of projection from the Vikings. Could his skill set and intangibles translate to the NFL, even as a backup?
The Vikings needed to use those traits to project whether McCarthy would warrant the team’s first-round pick in the 2024 draft. By all accounts, he’s checked every box as far as intangibles go. His arm strength has been praised throughout camp, and he led the nation with a 72.3 completion percentage in his final season at Michigan.
Does that guarantee future NFL success? No. Does the success of Cousins, Dobbs, Darnold, and Brosmer in O’Connell’s system guarantee that McCarthy will also find fortune? No.
But O’Connell has found success with guys who had limitations to their games before playing under him. What happens when he can mold his hand-picked quarterback who possesses physical traits that made him the 10th-overall pick of the draft? What happens when O’Connell doesn’t have to coach years of bad habits out of McCarthy, and instead builds good fundamentals early?
Brosmer flourished with the second- and third-team offenses. What will McCarthy look like with a revamped offensive line, improved running game, and Justin Jefferson at his disposal? Your mind might take you somewhere that doesn’t feel possible. But that place may be closer to reality because you’ve already seen O’Connell do it before.