New MN Vikings QB May Not Be Ready For Duty

Ready or not, the Minnesota Vikings’ 2025 season will start six days from now. Fans are foaming at the mouth to finally see the highest-drafted quarterback in franchise history wear a purple and gold uniform for the first time, during a game that actually counts.

God-willing, we will see JJ McCarthy throw the first pass of what we hope will be a Vikings career we go on to tell our future grandkids about. Of course, this is Minnesota and we need to be careful dreaming about greatness.

We all know how well that’s worked out in the past. Still, many fans continue to hold a quiet confidence in their young quarterback of the future, even if they continue to reserve their final McCarthy judgements until they see him perform with their own eyes (in a game that counts).

Until then, let’s focus on some less-imminent questions percolating in the Minnesota Vikings’ QB room. For example, who will back up our medical redshirt rookie quarterback (who’s coming off career-altering surgery that forced him to miss all of last season)?

The assumption, since last week, seems to point toward the new guy in the quarterback room, North Dakota native and former NDSU Bison, Carson Wentz.

On paper, going with the freshly signed veteran makes sense, especially when the only other quarterback available is undrafted rookie free agent and former Gopher, Max Brosmer.

Carson Wentz may not be ready for Minnesota Vikings week one?

Wentz is a former No. 2 overall draft pick who’s racked up 9 NFL seasons, where he’s thrown over 3,000 passes for 22,410 yards and 153 touchdowns. The other two, McCarthy and Brosmer, have thrown a combined 0 NFL passes.

But there’s a problem, Wentz just opened Kevin O’Connell’s playbook for the first time about a week ago. While Kevin O’Connell’s offensive schemes are lauded as being easier to understand for those in it, than it is for opposing defenses, in the moment.

Is it simple enough for the most important player on a football field to fully comprehend after just two weeks of cramming and working with new teammates? Probably not, something Carson Wentz admitted to reporters last week.

“It’s never easy. Been a new playbook every year for the past however many years for me now. There’s some overlap to some spots I’ve been in the past, which that definitely helps. But it’s still new language, still new things. But the guys have been great, the coaching staff, even Max (Brosmer) and J.J. (McCarthy) have been helpful already. Trying to dive in as quick as I can and figure it out. Think I’m doing OK so far.”

Carson Wentz on learning the Vikings offense (video courtesy of FOX9)

Related: Everyone’s Favorite New Viking Makes NFL Futures List

In a perfect Minnesota Vikings world, Carson Wentz would be on another NFL roster or still on his couch. This season’s QB2 was supposed to be Sam Howell, until he flopped during the preseason, sparking a trade out of town just months after the 25-year-old was plucked from that same market.

Could Max Brosmer be forced into Vikings QB2 duties week one?

It wasn’t just Howell’s camp failures that led to his early exit from TCO Performance Center, though. The Vikings were emboldened to move on from Sam Howell, in part due to the impression former Minnesota Gophers QB Max Brosmer made this summer.

Not only did Max Brosmer prove this preseason that he can rise to any NFL occasion thrown at him so far, he’s also in the midst of landing in two brand new football facilities in less than 1.5 years, and somehow thriving at both.

Max Brosmer: 2025 preseason highlights pic.twitter.com/BJ7aC1JJtb

— Krauser (@Krauserrific) August 26, 2025

Understandably, the local pro team still coveted a veteran presence for their 2025 QB room. Entering the regular season with two rookie quarterbacks, neither of which have played an NFL snap, is a massive risk for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

But would O’Connell really feel better about Carson Wentz under center, over Max Brosmer… when the former only walked through the doors two weeks before walking down the Monday Night Football tunnel at Soldier Field?

Wentz has some experience in a similar scheme, having spent 2023 as a backup for coach Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams. On his sixth team in as many seasons, he has been through schematic crash courses before. But he made clear upon his arrival that his task in the short term will be challenging.

Kevin Seifert – ESPN

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Logically, if Wentz is slotted into the depth chart as Minnesota’s QB2 in Chicago, KOC would be forced to heavily dumb down the Vikings’ emergency backup game plan, offensively. Veteran or not, the 32-year-old is drinking O’Connell’s offense through a firehose right now.

We’ll find out at some point this week who will be the Minnesota Vikings’ QB2 in next week’s season opener. Until I see Carson Wentz listed above Brosmer on the week one depth chart, I’m going to assume the former Gopher will get that designation to start the year. From there, we’ll see if he ever gives it up.