Frederick: History suggests Max Brosmer’s first NFL start won’t go well. Our eyes say otherwise

Seattle sports the NFL s fifth-best defense this season by yardage allowed per match and seventh by points Minnesota is set to roll into Seattle with a struggling offense that has eclipsed the -point plateau and thrown for north of yards one time in its last five games Now the Vikings are forced to hand the keys over to an undrafted rookie quarterback for his first career start All signs point to calamity So why does it feel like this may just work Perhaps it s the Vikings latest history of offensive success Wins haven t reliably followed but this passing meeting has delivered high volumes of production largely regardless of who s been under center up until this season The combination of Kevin O Connell Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson is a lethal one Or maybe this is about Max Brosmer An undrafted quarterback who spent the bulk of his collegiate career at the FCS level doesn t scream instant NFL success But this is the same guy who re-introduced the forward pass to P J Fleck s Gophers football venture Who nearly beat a Penn State band that reached last year s CFP semifinals with little help from his pass protection Who scored fourth-quarter points against a Michigan defense that concluded its campaign by dominating Ohio State and Alabama The guy who by season s end was routinely posting several of Pro Football Focus best passing grades of any college quarterback in the country Max Brosmer of the Minnesota Vikings throws a pass in the second half during the NFL Preseason while under pressure from Curtis Jacobs of the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on Aug in Nashville Tennessee The Titans defeated the Vikings - Brosmer will make his first career regular season start Sunday in Seattle Photo by Wesley Hitt Getty Images The guy who went into the Vikings preseason finale against Tennessee s starters in August and surrounded by a bunch of reserves led a functioning offense consistently ripping on-time on-target passes in the face of perilous pressure Brosmer went for for yards and a count that evening Watch the tape of Brosmer from last year against the Nittany Lions or this fall against Tennessee and the number of times he throws his receivers open via his anticipation starts to pile up There s a throw against Penn State where on third and eventual No overall draft pick Abdul Carter is in Brosmer s grill within ticks of the ball being snapped Brosmer proceeded to fire a dart off his back foot to an empty dot of space between four Penn State defenders Daniel Jackson arrived at the same time as the ball for a -yard gain Every time Brosmer has taken snaps those watching walk away thinking That guy knows how to play quarterback He just gets it The Vikings clearly held the same belief Which is why they chose to roster Brosmer coming out of the preseason rather than dangling him out on the practice squad where he could be snatched up by any squad with an admiring eye Brosmer noted Friday that he prides himself on being the largest part prepared guy on the field at all times Gophers offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh has detailed the preparation in advance of last fall s Penn State challenge in which he and Brosmer spent all night noting the opposing blitz packages and how to identify and counteract them Back in the spring O Connell mentioned Brosmer is as smart as any young player that I ve been around Brosmer takes pride in that noting it caters to my strengths I was never the bulk athletic guy never the strongest guy But I felt like I could do it better with my mind on the field Brosmer explained That s playing NFL quarterback in my opinion Getting your squad into the right play calls and checks with tempo is ostensibly of the battle Then it s only down to execution Can you trust it grip it and rip it Nothing we ve seen from Brosmer suggests otherwise He has routinely shown the ability to make whatever play is necessary to compensate for deficiencies around him and keep the offense moving in a positive direction That s how you play the position Generally when O Connell has been armed with someone like that fireworks have ensued Will that take place Sunday History involving similar circumstances suggests No But everything our eyes have notified us over the past months says this might be different With Max Brosmer it invariably has been