For the second straight year, the Arizona Cardinals went quarterback in the first round of the NFL Draft. So where does that lead last year’s Round 1 pick, Josh Rosen?
Now that the Arizona Cardinals have made it official and have selected Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, the focus now shifts to Josh Rosen. Rosen, selected 10th-overall in the first round of last year’s draft, was expected to be groomed into the team’s franchise quarterback.
But after the Cardinals fired head coach Steve Wilks after just one season on the job and Arizona general manager Steve Keim said that Rosen was the team’s quarterback “for now,” at this year’s Scouting Combine, Rosen’s hold on the starting quarterback job looked significantly weaker. Add in new head coach Kliff Kingsbury Now, it may be over before it really got started.
Rosen appeared in 14 games as a rookie, starting 12. He completed only 55.2 percent of his passes, for 2,278 yards and threw 11 touchdowns to 14 interceptions, his struggles compounded by a leaky offensive line that contributed to Rosen taking 45 sacks. And he might not get a chance to get a second shot with the team that moved up to draft him a year ago. Here are three scenarios that could be in the cards for Rosen’s future.
Trade him away
With so many teams in need of quarterback help and not a lot of high-caliber talent in this year’s draft class to meet all of those needs, it’s guaranteed that the Cardinals will be fielding numerous calls from teams interested in trading for Rosen.
But while Rosen’s rookie season wasn’t stellar, the asking price in a trade should still be high. Rosen was a top-10 draft pick just a year ago and much of his low production can be attributed to the now-departed Wilks and his coaching staff and a lack of a supporting cast around him. He’s still worth developing and teams that lost out on acquiring him in 2018 could be in play to snag him now.
The Cardinals could score a pretty penny in return for Rosen, whether it be for draft picks, players or both, especially if this trade market sparks a bidding war. Should trade be the direction Arizona is leaning for Rosen, expect it to come quickly, perhaps before the start of Round 2 of the draft on Friday.
Keep Rosen, have a QB competition
The Cardinals could also see the pair of Rosen and Murray as an embarrassment of riches, given that they now have two Round 1 quarterbacks on their roster. While they might believe that “newer is always better” and hand the reins to Murray immediately, it might best serve both quarterbacks to have a bona fide competition once minicamps and training camp take place in the coming months.
Arizona most certainly didn’t get the best of Rosen in his rookie season, but that year of experience and potentially being in a better coaching situation now could help accelerate his development. Meanwhile, Murray has gifts of his own that deserve to be explored. Both quarterbacks have strong arguments to be worthy of holding the Cardinals’ starting job in 2019. Why not let them battle it out to prove who really can lead the team to wins this season?
Sit Murray behind Rosen for a year
The Cardinals could also learn from their mistakes from a season ago and choose to not throw Murray into the fire immediately, as they did with Rosen. Arizona could commit to Rosen as their 2019 starter — at least to begin the season — allowing Murray time to learn the nuances of the professional game and develop on a timetable that best suits his needs as well as the team’s.
That would also allow Rosen to potentially gain more traction as a trade target. If Rosen can open the season and play well, he could have more suitors for a trade, whether in-season or in 2020. That more-robust trade market would also benefit the Cardinals, who could amass more resources from interested teams if Rosen is playing (and playing well) than were he on the bench.
Regardless, the Cardinals have a decision to make about Rosen’s future with the franchise. It’s a decision that should come soon, perhaps within hours of having named Murray their No. 1 overall pick. No matter what happens, hopefully the outcome benefits both Rosen and the Cardinals, and not just only the club.