EAGAN, Minn. -- Kevin O'Connell typically doesn't attend pro days during his preparation for the NFL draft, and for good reason. After retiring as a player, and before accepting his first assistant coaching job, O'Connell worked as a private coach to help draft-eligible players prepare for the scouting combine and their pro days. He knows the strategies for exaggerating strengths and hiding weaknesses, and believes there are better ways to evaluate them.
In four offseasons as the Minnesota Vikings' head coach, however, O'Connell has made one exception. He has always attended the University of Minnesota's pro day, partly because it takes place 20 minutes from the Vikings' practice facility but also because of his friendship with Golden Gophers coach P.J. Fleck. And that's how O'Connell first noticed a quarterback named Max Brosmer, a transfer from New Hampshire (2019-23) who arrived on Minnesota's campus last spring and was immediately asked to participate in its pro day.
"They allow [non-draft eligible players] now to throw, which is a huge thing," O'Connell said, "because you get a dry run at a pro day, probably not with the same amount of preparation, which made it even more impressive."
O'Connell followed Brosmer's postgraduate season at Minnesota, where he threw for 2,828 yards and 18 touchdowns, and checked on him again during his 2025 pro day. ESPN's Jordan Reid ranked Brosmer as the 10th-best quarterback of the 2025 draft class.
When he went undrafted, the Vikings swooped in with an offer that suggests they project him for a potential long-term role as a backup. Brosmer received $246,000 in fully guaranteed money to join a quarterback room that includes presumptive starter J.J. McCarthy, along with Sam Howell and Brett Rypien.
No. 4 quarterbacks don't often generate much attention, but the Vikings' fluid depth chart and Brosmer's initial impression at last weekend's rookie minicamp merit a close eye in the coming months.
"Whether I get drafted in the third round or I got drafted in the seventh round or I go undrafted," Brosmer said in recalling his thoughts on draft weekend, "there's a reason that I'm here. I do my best to live each day with that mentality of gratitude and curiosity and empathy. And I think that it kind of just all unfolds as it should."
Because he went undrafted, Brosmer was able to select a team and coaching staff that has earned a reputation as one of the top developers of quarterbacks in the league. Of the five quarterbacks who spent time on the Vikings' roster last season, three -- McCarthy, Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones -- could be NFL starters in 2025. Brosmer's six-year college career has left him with a football knowledge base that appealed to a team whose backups aren't likely to get many training camp reps, as all eyes focus on McCarthy, the No. 10 pick of the 2024 draft. At 24, Brosmer is two years older and threw more than twice as many college passes as McCarthy.
Brosmer said he had been on Minnesota's campus for only two days in March 2024 when he realized the Gophers needed a quarterback for their pro day. He had never before and would never again throw with the Gophers' 2024 class, he said, and so he decided to "just let it fly."
He added: "I was just like, 'Screw it. I'm going to throw it and make sure these guys can catch the ball.'"
O'Connell noticed and decided to track Brosmer through the college season. By the time he finished watching Brosmer at the Gophers' 2025 pro day, he was intrigued enough to invite him to the Vikings' practice facility for a predraft visit. After that, he was convinced. A coach who has called himself a "quarterback killer" -- meaning he not infrequently eliminates draft-eligible quarterbacks from consideration -- had decided Brosmer was worth a deeper look.
"He got a chance to throw last year and caught my eye then," O'Connell said. "I didn't get a chance to watch him in person [during the season], but obviously any time that the Gophers were on TV and I could see it, just watching a lot of the things.
"And then we spend some time with their coaching staff, a little bit, sharing ideas -- and how we do things, and some of the ways we teach things. And so there's some good carryover for things that he's done during his time with the Gophers. But any time that I get to a pro day of the same guy two years in a row, somehow I didn't even know that was possible, but I felt pretty good about Max as a thrower when we were able to get him here."
Brosmer got the majority of work during Friday's opener of rookie minicamp and was exposed immediately to O'Connell's thorough in-practice coaching methods. Either O'Connell, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, or assistant offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Jordan Traylor approached him after nearly every rep to discuss it. To his surprise, Brosmer learned the Vikings -- and many other NFL teams -- use large replay screens on the field during practice.
"I didn't realize there were screens out here replaying the play right away," Brosmer said. "I'm like, 'This is awesome.' I'm always like, 'Let's go back to the film room and watch it.' I get to watch it real time. And so that's a lot of fun, especially having someone like KO, and having him and coach McCown and JT out there talking through every single play right there, right after it happens with a new install that we're all doing together. That's super helpful."
Brosmer threw consecutive interceptions during one drill, but afterward O'Connell made a point to say that rookie minicamp shouldn't have "fear-based outcomes," adding that "hopefully we can evaluate a little stronger" than just counting interception totals.
O'Connell, in fact, praised Brosmer's quick assimilation into the Vikings' scheme.
"A lot of [Brosmer's skills] were on display [Friday]," O'Connell said. "The starting point of just being a pretty efficient thrower of the football from a standpoint of fundamentals, technique, his ability to generate some pretty good revolutions and RPMs on the ball with pretty limited movement in the pocket. I have a lot of respect for P.J. and his staff and how they've coached football over there, from a standpoint of his high football IQ.
"Shows up when he can really arrive here, spend a couple hours in meetings, and he's out there making corrections in the middle of a 7-on-7 walk-through leading into a period. So you're already seeing a lot of the things that we really identified in Max to bring them into a quarterback room that we're really excited about."
