After Sunday’s game in Seattle, Kevin O’Connell said Max Brosmer was playing way too fast. Perhaps his ability to quickly process had kicked into overdrive. Or maybe the Seattle Seahawks’ pass rush had sped up in internal clock.
“Some plays where I thought early Max was honestly maybe processing too quickly,” O’Connell said. “There were some moments there where he was getting back to some things where we had some explosive chances for either Jordan on the backside catch-and-run, even on some of the third downs where he just a little sped up like a normal young player can be in his first start.”
Brosmer looked harried throughout the game. Still, he occasionally delivered throws into tight windows, and Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison also dropped catchable balls. However, Brosmer finished 19 of 30 for 126 yards and four interceptions.
The Vikings lost control of the game on his pick-six in the red zone, and they never recovered.
“Tough day today,” Brosmer admitted afterwards. “We didn’t capitalize where we should have. It’s tough to go and try and win games when we can’t keep the ball in our hands. Ultimately, I take [responsibility] for [that].”
Max Brosmer didn’t turn out to be Brock Purdy to J.J. McCarthy’s Trey Lance.
The San Francisco 49ers took Lance, the former North Dakota State quarterback from Marshall, Minn., third overall in 2021. Lance spent only two years in San Francisco, completing 56.4% of his passes in eight starts. He’s starting with the Los Angeles Chargers this year after Justin Herbert’s injury.
However, a year later, they took Purdy with the final pick in the draft. Purdy became a Pro Bowler in 2023 and has been San Francisco’s franchise quarterback ever since.
Purdy provided more value when he was on his rookie contract, especially as a player the Niners took outside the first round. Coaches and GMs see him as the 14th-best quarterback in the league. Still, Kyle Shanahan salvaged San Francisco’s quarterback situation by drafting and developing Purdy.
The oddity with coaches from the Sean McVay tree, like Shanahan and O’Connell, is that they tend to do better with project quarterbacks than their own draft picks.
The Los Angeles Rams drafted Jared Goff a year before hiring McVay, and they reached the Super Bowl in 2018 with Goff under center. However, they traded Goff to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford after the 2020 season and won the Super Bowl a year later.
Stafford had an 89.9 quarterback rating in 12 years with the Lions but never won a playoff game. At age 37, NFL coaches and GMs believe he’s the fifth-best quarterback in the league. Goff has revived his career in Detroit. Still, league executives see him as the eighth-best quarterback.
Shanahan coached up Sam Darnold before the Vikings signed him last year, and O’Connell had more success with Darnold last year than with McCarthy this year. Shanahan has also revived Mac Jones’ career, who Minnesota may bring into camp to compete with McCarthy next season.
Coaches like McVay, Shanahan, and O’Connell may be better at working with project quarterbacks than developing draft picks.
Teams tend to idealize what a drafted quarterback will become because they’re projecting how a college player will perform in the NFL. Meanwhile, coaches who have success with project quarterbacks tend to already know their strengths and weaknesses. Instead of trying to create an idealized version of the player, they maximize their strengths and suppress their weaknesses.
Assuming he clears concussion protocol, the Vikings will give McCarthy the last five games to develop and show his readiness for next season. They have invested more in McCarthy, the 10th-overall pick two years ago, than in Brosmer.
Sunday may be the last time Brosmer starts for the Vikings. They may keep him as a developmental quarterback next year. Still, they took Jaren Hall in the fifth round of the 2023 draft, started him in two games, and moved on from him the following year.
If that’s the case, Brosmer’s first start and potentially only start was over in a flash.
“Whether it’s a tick too fast getting there, moving to a spot to try to get it there quicker, it’s something you have to learn and go through,” he said. “I’ll definitely use today as an experience and learning moment to get better from there. I’ll be able to look back on some of the plays today and be like I know I was too fast here, and I’ll slow myself down maybe half a click slower next time to get that completion.”
Max Brosmer may not be Purple Purdy, but the Vikings may invest in him. He could become a reliable backup because of his ability to understand the game and his decent, undeveloped skill set. Still, if this is it for Brosmer, he may be the first young quarterback who threw four picks in his NFL debut because his mind was moving too fast for the game.