Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated dropped some interesting nuggets about the Vikings QB situation
With J.J. McCarthy in concussion protocol and unlikely to play in Seattle, the Minnesota Vikings will turn to their third starting quarterback of the season, Max Brosmer. McCarthy has struggled in his second season with the Vikings, and Minnesota's season has crashed amid high expectations. Enter Brosmer against a top-end defense in Seattle on Sunday.
While speculation has run rampant about what head coach Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings organization will do with McCarthy, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated dropped some interesting information about the QB situation in his latest article.
"On the flip side, Sunday’s game felt like a flashpoint for Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy.
He finished with 12-of-19 for 87 yards, two picks and a 34.2 passer rating in Green Bay. Minnesota’s only points came on field goals of 52 and 59 yards, after scoring drives of just 31 and 32 yards. The Minnesota offense got in the red zone once all afternoon, and didn’t cross midfield in the second half. The Vikings’ five possessions after the break ended in a punt, another punt, a third punt and then McCarthy’s two picks.
The offense had all five line starters back in the lineup, and the typical all-star array of skill-position talent. And for an indoor team, it wasn’t even that cold in Green Bay on Sunday (43 degrees).
The Packers’ game plan was to continually change the picture on McCarthy, to get the wheels in his head turning. As a result, the quarterback was consistently late with his timing and out of rhythm. So he held the ball, leading to a ton of hits, with the damage accumulating.
What’s next, for McCarthy and the Vikings? It’s a fair question, and one without an easy answer.
With McCarthy in concussion protocol, the Vikings could avoid what would be an awfully tricky spot for the 22-year-old: McCarthy in Seattle, against a defensive coach (Mike Macdonald) who throws a lot at any quarterback and was at Michigan with McCarthy, playing against the quarterback he replaced (Sam Darnold) in Minnesota. But if Max Brosmer, whom the coaches really like, plays well, then this could get even more complicated.
That said, I’d trust Kevin O’Connell to do right by his quarterback here, and he’s said, over and over, how important it is to prioritize the confidence of a player at that position. Maybe he sees McCarthy’s confidence waning, and sticks with Brosmer for a while. Maybe he thinks the best thing to restore McCarthy’s confidence is to get him back on the field ASAP.
Either way, this certainly isn’t where the Vikings envisioned themselves 19 months ago when they traded up a spot and took McCarthy 10th in the 2024 draft.
But McCarthy is only 22 years old and in his second NFL season. If the past few years have shown us anything, it’s that teams have to be careful about giving up on a talented young quarterback too quickly. I don’t think the Vikings are going to do that yet. I also wouldn’t expect them to go forward without reinforcements if this doesn’t resolve itself by the end of the year."
Breer highlights that Vikings coaches really like Brosmer, but emphasizes he doesn't believe Minnesota is in a rush to move on from McCarthy. The issue is that the bar for a quarterback is so low in Minnesota in 2025 that it is hard to envision Brosmer playing worse than McCarthy, even against Seattle's excellent defense.