Now that Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback J.J. McCarthy has been placed in the concussion protocol, it seems likely that backup quarterback Max Brosmer will get the start on Sunday against the Seahawks, although Kevin O’Connell said he’d wait to see how things go before making a decision on who will start at quarterback in Seattle.
Brosmer was signed as a UDFA by the Vikings after the draft this year and after a rough first few days in training camp progressed very well and made the active roster, which is exceedingly rare for a UDFA as a rookie. In fact, I believe Brosmer is the only UDFA quarterback who made an active roster as a rookie in the league right now.
Kevin O’Connell has spoken highly of Brosmer, who he first met when he attended the University of Minnesota pro day in 2024. Brosmer was not in the 2024 draft, but nevertheless O’Connell had the chance to see Brosmer work out and was impressed with what he saw and heard from him. He had a chance to see him again at the 2025 University of Minnesota pro day and again liked what he saw which ultimately led to the Vikings signing him after the draft as an undrafted college free agent.
Early Life and College Experience
Brosmer was born in Davenport, Iowa, grew up in Ohio, and then his family moved to Atlanta at the start of middle school where he played high school football at Centennial in Roswell and began working with quarterback coach Quincy Avery. He accepted an offer from New Hampshire over a couple others from Ivy League schools and a walk-on offer from Kirby Smart at Georgia.
He had a total of 49 starts over six years between New Hampshire and later the University of Minnesota in his final season of college football, which is a lot of experience. He ran pro-style offenses with both schools and was given a lot of play-calling responsibilities early on that some college quarterbacks never get. He is currently 24 years old- he turns 25 next March.
Brosmer had the 11th highest PFF passing grade (84.2) among the 2025 quarterback draft class for the 2024 college season. That was pretty consistent with but slightly better than his last three seasons at New Hampshire, despite moving from FCS to FBS/Big Ten competition.
His last season at Minnesota in 2024 he went 268/406 (66%) for 2,801 yards (6.9/attempt), 18 TDs and 6 INTs. His adjusted completion % (accuracy) was 77.5% (7th best among FBS starters) and his NFL passer rating was 94.5. He set the Gophers’ single season completion record (268). Over his entire college career, he went 953/1,498 (63.6%) for 10,801 yards (7.2/attempt), 87 TDs and 25 INTs.
Consensus Scouting Report
Prior to the draft there were several scouting reports on Max Brosmer (6’2”, 217 lbs.) with a good deal of agreement between them, which isn’t always the case. Overall, his consensus/consolidated scouting report looks like this:
Strengths
- High/elite football IQ
- Ability to process/progress quickly
- Throws with anticipation
- Good decision making
- Good Accuracy, but with some situational quibbles
- Good layering passes with touch
- Good throwing mechanics, footwork
- Quick, compact release- gets the ball out fast
- Strong leadership traits
- Coachable with high work ethic
Weaknesses
- Not much of a threat running the ball
- Not a great scrambler/mobile passer
- Average+ arm strength
- Not able to create much out of structure
- Some injury history (knee injury in 2021)
Brosmer wasn’t drafted because he was seen as a pocket-only passer with an average physical skill set and having played most of his college career in FCS New Hampshire he wasn’t scouted much. He was also a bit older as a prospect at 24 years old.
But in terms of above-the-shoulder ability and ceiling, Brosmer might be top in his and other draft classes. He gained experience early-on in New Hampshire and later Minnesota calling three plays in the huddle, audibling as necessary, setting protections, and reading defenses. He is said to be very mature in these respects and so should be ahead of the curve as a rookie in the NFL. He has a more conservative play style, keen to avoid the negative play and occasionally going for the check-down when a longer throw might have been possible.
Here are some links to full length scouting reports:
Also, here is the ‘elevator pitch’ summary from Matt Waldman’s scouting report:
If the intent of an NFL decision maker is to draft a quarterback in the late rounds or sign a UDFA with the most promising traits for a starter, Will Howard and Kyle McCord will be the best options of the quarterbacks still available. If the intent is landing a player who could become a quality backup and plays low-mistake football while having enough traits to help a team during a short-term crisis, Brosmer might be the wiser choice.
Brosmer has efficient and sound drop and release mechanics with only minor lapses. Brosmer’s accuracy is pinpoint in the shallow range of the field, competent in the intermediate and vertical zones. Ask Brosmer to target receivers inside 40 yards of his release point, and he can get the job done as a pinpoint passer. His best work comes as a timing passer from the pocket where he can buy time with ball fakes. Brosmer will roll from pressure. He’ll also execute small climbs in the pocket from edge pressure. When pressure pushes a running back into his lap, Brosmer will hang in there unless there’s additional interior pressure arriving unblocked. In this case, Brosmer will spin and roll, but he’s not quick enough to get away with the roll. Brosmer can reduce his shoulder, duck, and climb from pressure. He does a good job anticipating edge pressure and sliding two steps inside to create space for a target. He can make small evasive maneuvers with slides and climbs, and he can also climb in rhythm with 2-3 hitches and deliver the ball downfield.
Brosmer will take a hit from a blitzing linebacker up the middle to get off an accurate vertical shot. He must integrate his pre-snap identification of edge pressure off the blindside into his decision-making and take what’s available. Brosmer can also be reactive to flashes of potential pressure that doesn’t arrive.
Brosmer has some skills as a decision-maker. He can work sideline-to-sideline with timely reads off play-action and correctly determine the check-down is the best decision. Brosmer can hold defenders to one side of the field to set up a quick pivot and throw to the middle of the field from a route breaking from the backside.
He can deliver layered throws over linebackers up the seam with pinpoint accuracy to vertical routes. When he doesn’t recognize favorable leverage in front of him, Brosmer will opt to throw the ball away when he had a completion. Brosmer must account for the peripheral defender when targeting receivers across the field. He’s better at it when the peripheral defender is playing high or low of the intended target. He can account for peripheral defenders on multiple quick reads on each play and adjust his position subtly from pressure to give time to resolve one of those peripheral defender angles to generate a completion.
Brosmer and his receivers must be on the same page with routes over the middle. When should the receiver settle or continue his route. Brosmer has thrown interceptions because he expected one thing and the receiver did another. He’ll take a sack when the passing lane to his check-down is blocked by an end and forcing the throw is risky. He’s good at targeting the ball away from the leverage of the defenders covering the receiver. Even if he’s not pinpoint accurate under pressure with some of these throws, the ball is only where the receiver can make the play—especially in the red zone.
Although the lapses are few, Brosmer has gotten greedy where he passes up an easy shallow read with space for the receiver to run, and he winds up taking a sack because the secondary reads weren’t open. This is important because in those situations there was clear pre-snap signs of pressure from the blindside, so it’s best to presume if the first read is open, that’s all the time the QB will have.
Like most QBs, his accuracy wanes under pressure. Still, Brosmer makes enough layered throws downfield under pressure that it’s premature to write him off as a player who fizzles with defenders in his face.
I don’t see Brosmer transcending a backup role, but I like the potential he could have long-term in this capacity and without the lows that some of the higher-profile options on the board might have with their games.
Videos
Below are some videos of Brosmer in action, including both college and preseason action this year.
Preseason Titans Game analysis – QB School
All 2025 Preseason Pass Attempts – All 22 Film
2024 Minnesota Gopher Highlights
2023 New Hampshire Highlights
Bottom Line
Max Brosmer had a lot more football experience than J.J. McCarthy in college and is universally described as having a high football IQ and sound throwing mechanics. In those respects he’s more NFL-ready than McCarthy was coming out. But Brosmer has athletic limitations that could give him a lower ceiling and those were largely the reason he went undrafted. He is seen as a capable backup that can play relatively mistake-free football for a backup quarterback and could have a long NFL career in that capacity but may not be able to rise above that role.
The real question with Brosmer now that he has made an NFL roster and will get an opportunity to start and perhaps even compete for the starting job, is how limiting is his physical skill set really? Some HoF quarterbacks had average-ish skill sets when it came to arm strength and running/mobile ability. They could make all the throws- and I think Brosmer can too- he just may not be able to hurl 70-yard hail marys. But he looks to have good velocity on his fast ball and nice touch on his layered throws at distances that cover 95+% of NFL throws. Outside of arm strength, is he mobile/athletic enough to maneuver in the pocket successfully and buy a little time? Plenty of top quarterbacks aren’t really a run threat but can move the chains in open space- and Brosmer can do that too.
The other question is how strong, really, are his strengths- his football IQ, processing, throwing with anticipation, accuracy, and quick release? These are the areas that separate high-end starters from failed draft picks- not the physical skill sets above a certain level. One game isn’t enough to find out the answer to all these questions, but we’ll at least get a brief eye test. His preseason tape tended to echo the scouting reports for the most part, although with more sloppy preseason play. His eight pass attempts in mop-up duty against the Bengals and Chargers were all accurate (but 3 drops) but were mostly of the dump-off variety which doesn’t show us much.
But of course it’s a different level when suddenly you’re the starter in a real NFL game for the first time. How Brosmer reacts under the lights when he’s the guy running the offense should be interesting if he indeed does start on Sunday. It will also be interesting how Kevin O’Connell game plans for him. Stay tuned.
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