Any Minnesota Golden Gophers fan wondering why Max Brosmer fell through the draft in May is now basking in vindication. Not only is Brosmer putting on a show in preseason, but he didn’t even have to leave the state to do it. In two games, the rookie quarterback has gone 20 for 35 for 203 yards and a touchdown, leading the Minnesota Vikings to four scoring drives in nine opportunities. He almost made it five, had Myles Price hauled in a catchable ball for a potentially game-tying touchdown.
Everyone’s impressed with Brosmer, and they should be. Yeah, whatever, it’s the preseason, and he’s played third-string players. Who cares?
We’ve seen his strengths in spades. As Kevin O’Connell said after Saturday’s game, “He plays with very fast eyes and very rarely puts the ball in harm’s way when he’s doing it, which is a unique trait.” O’Connell immediately called out Brosmer’s fourth-and-17 conversion as a prime example of what those traits can accomplish.
Brosmer’s ascendant play is coming on the heels of an awful day for Sam Howell, whose five attempts went for as many interceptions as they did completions. While a strong game against the Houston Texans seemed to dispel worries about Howell’s status as the backup, there’s now a growing feeling among those close to the Vikings that Brosmer could overtake Howell on the depth chart.
Howell might not be the answer as Minnesota’s backup quarterback. In his lone full season as a starter for the Washington Commanders, he threw for nearly 4,000 yards but had the double whammy of leading the league in interceptions (21) and sacks (65). Poor decision-making and holding on to the ball for too long are a doomed combination in the NFL.
Meanwhile, Brosmer stands in direct contrast to Howell. He’s gotten the ball out fast, and KOC has praised his anticipation and football smarts long before he started balling out in preseason. Rookie or not, he’s earned a roster spot.
But when it comes to who should back up J.J. McCarthy, the stakes are much higher than Who’s going to hold the clipboard? They might make or break the season, and as much as Brosmer has impressed, he can’t be in a position to do that.
Obviously, the plan is for McCarthy to start 16 games, with the backup starting in Week 18, after the Vikings have secured home-field advantage. But that’s the thing: The Vikings are contenders, and that’s with a starting quarterback who has never taken a regular-season snap.
We can assume that McCarthy will be ready to go, and we can trust O’Connell’s judgment and ability to tailor an offense around his signal-caller. However, we won’t know exactly what to expect until McCarthy is under center in an actual regular-season game.
And, hey, McCarthy doesn’t even have to perform poorly to make the backup quarterback the most important person on the team. He doesn’t even need to tear his meniscus, as he did last year. All he has to do is tweak something and be out for three or four games. Is even the biggest Gophers fan feeling confident in a rookie Brosmer’s ability to keep the Vikings afloat during a stretch of the season?
Again, Brosmer has looked even better than his numbers suggest. He had two big incompletions on Sunday that you can argue the receiver should’ve come down with. Overshadowed by KOC’s hot-mic moment was Brosmer making a big-time throw that got negated by a procedural penalty. All of that’s true.
But we also saw reminders that Brosmer’s still a rookie. He did well getting the ball out fast and to the right spots many times, but he also had four sacks that cost his team 33 yards. Arguably, playing under the better protection of the starters would help with that, but also, he’d be facing better defenders, so maybe not. Do the Vikings want to roll the dice when it’s put-up-or-shut-up time for the backup?
There are many reasons for optimism with Brosmer. It’s easy to see a world where he enjoys a long career as McCarthy’s backup. You might also envision one where McCarthy falters, and Brosmer takes the reins in a few years.
But even though Brock Purdy provides some precedent for a (nearly) undrafted rookie to step in and pilot a strong team deep into the playoffs, it’d be silly to rely on that happening ever again. Heck, even the San Francisco 49ers didn’t rely on Purdy. They’d already gone through Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance before turning to Mr. Irrelevant.
Perhaps the Vikings still have some hope that Howell will be the guy ready at a moment’s notice. If they do, they can’t afford to be wrong. But if they are souring on Howell, they must find some sort of reasonably seasoned backup to replace him. It’s risky enough to turn a 14-3 team over to a quarterback who’s never started an NFL game. It might be spitting in the football gods’ face to have two such players atop a contender’s depth chart.
