How has Vikings rookie Max Brosmer gone from undrafted free agent to potential No. 2 QB?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6565396/2025/08/21/max-brosmer-minnesota-vikings-new-hampshire/
They swear they’re not saying this in hindsight. Max Brosmer? Those who have witnessed his journey, from Atlanta to Minnesota by way of New Hampshire, knew.
Not necessarily that he could push to be a backup for the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie. But that he has what you need to play for a long time in the NFL.
“Some teams were, like, ‘We don’t have a draftable grade on him,'” said Brosmer’s longtime quarterback trainer, Quincy Avery. “I’m, like, ‘Are you guys crazy? What are you watching? What are we even looking at?'”
It wasn’t for a lack of trying, either. Brosmer’s quarterbacks coach at New Hampshire, Drew Belcher, implored the NFL staffers he knew to take a look. Eric Galko, the director of the East-West Shrine Bowl, invoked the name Brock Purdy as a comparison. P.J. Fleck, Brosmer’s head coach at Minnesota, described him as one of the most mentally capable players and people he’d been around.
Still, nothing. Seven rounds, 257 picks, 13 quarterbacks, none of them Brosmer.
Going undrafted motivated the 24-year-old. It infuriated the people around him. The Vikings eventually offered him a shot as an undrafted free agent, and it took only a few months before coach Kevin O’Connell started to sound like all of his former coaches and observers: “Max is as smart as any young player that I’ve been around.”
It’d be one thing if Brosmer’s sharpness didn’t translate to the field. But it has. He has held his own alongside J.J. McCarthy, Sam Howell and Brett Rypien in practice. He has
moved the football effectively in preseason games. All of this is why one longtime NFL scout admitted that hindsight may not have been necessary.
How could 32 teams have possibly missed on Max Brosmer? “It’s actually a great question,” the scout texted.
Last week, Harbaugh wondered aloud: What if Brosmer hadn’t made the jump last year? What if Brosmer had attempted to go directly from New Hampshire to the NFL? Would he have had the requisite time for trial and error the way he did at Minnesota? And, perhaps most interestingly, how many young quarterbacks working actively to refine their timing get weeded out before things click?
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There are plenty of other layers to Brosmer’s early success. O’Connell’s complex system can be a burden, but Brosmer comes from a place that asked him to command 63 pre-snap alerts in last year’s matchup with Penn State. He releases the ball quickly. He is the type of guy who answered a FaceTime call from Golden Gophers offensive line coach Brian Callahan last week and explained a protection scheme while watching film of the New England Patriots. Review practice clips, and you’ll see Brosmer standing among the pack of quarterbacks, looking as if he’s conducting an imaginary play by himself.
How does Brian Flores’ defense compare to the college game?
“I feel like the jump between Minnesota and the NFL is smaller,” he said.