The Minnesota Vikings marched into U.S. Bank Stadium for their first game of the 2025 preseason on Saturday to host the Houston Texans. The Vikings ended up defeating the Texans by a final score of 20-10 behind quite the performances from backup quarterbacks Sam Howell and Max Brosmer.
The Vikings also have another quarterback trying to become JJ McCarthy's backup for the 2025 season, Brett Rypien, but he did not do much to cement himself in that conversation in the preseason win over Houston. Rypien is someone who finished the 2024 campaign as Sam Darnold's backup after McCarthy went down with an injury, and Nick Mullens was not anything special.
But Rypien looked like he was lost on the field on Saturday. He finished the game completing just 1-of-4 pass attempts for six yards in addition to getting sacked twice. It was not a good look for the future of his spot on Minnesota's roster.
Minnesota Vikings seem to have their QB2 answer on the roster, but watch out for another
McCarthy and the first-team offense only got to play around one series in Saturday's preseason opener. But there is still an open competition for who will be his backup come Week 1 of the regular season against the Chicago Bears.
Howell looked really good against the Texans this weekend as he finished the game completing 11-of-13 passes for 105 yards, and he was very efficient. Although he did not throw a touchdown pass, he looked very good moving the ball down the field and evading pressure.
But Brosmer also looked really good in his limited amount of time. Brosmer finished the game, completing 5-of-8 pass attempts for 47 yards and a touchdown toss late in the fourth quarter as he found Myles Price in the back of the end zone on 4th-and-goal from Houston's three-yard line and iced the victory for the Vikings.
Aside from Rypien and Broser, the Vikings seem to have their answer at backup quarterback as Howell came over in an offseason trade from the Seattle Seahawks. But Brosmer is an interesting story as the kid signed with the Vikings as a UDFA out of the University of Minnesota earlier this year.
Brosmer looked calm, cool, collected, and poised in his limited action in Saturday's victory. Brosmer has the potential to really give Howell and Rypien a run for their money as the preseason continues.
The Brosmer and Howell backup quarterback competition should be one to seriously monitor. Both guys looked good against the Texans on Saturday, but their next challenge awaits when Minnesota hosts the New England Patriots next weekend in the team's second game of the preseason.