Arizona Cardinals: Why rush Josh Rosen into starting quarterback role?
By Larry Brake
The Arizona Cardinals drafted Josh Rosen as the team’s future quarterback so let him grow into the position.
As the 2018 NFL Draft unfolded in April, people were surprised that Josh Rosen fell right into the Arizona Cardinals‘ lap. Arizona took the quarterback as the 10th overall selection after trading up. Many of the media pundits predicted Rosen to be the first quarterback taken in the class.
Why did he drop so far? He looks the part due to standing 6-4 and weighing 218 pounds. Rosen is a graduate of Troy Aikman’s alma mater, UCLA. Rosen’s collegiate numbers were good. He completed 712 passes for 9,340 yards with 59 touchdowns and 26 interceptions in three years. Most of all, Rosen is 21 years old.
He has plenty of time to mature and learn the pro game. After all, Rosen is under contract with the Cardinals for the next four years. So, why the rush to start him immediately?
Rosen impressed people at minicamp. Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com reports the following:
"Rosen looked as smart as coach Steve Wilks and teammates said he did, showing accuracy, impressive arm strength, somewhat surprising mobility and, by all accounts, the intelligence needed to be that guy everyone said was the most NFL-ready of the rookie QBs."
Since Arizona signed Sam Bradford to be the starting quarterback, it makes sense to let Rosen learn and mature. Bradford is the perfect example of being rushed into a starting job too early. The last thing Arizona needs is to give Rosen the starting job and see him get discouraged by rookie mistakes.
Remember that Peyton Manning had a tough rookie year. He had more interceptions than touchdown passes. There is a sharp learning curve for rookie quarterbacks.
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Arizona should allow Rosen to be groomed into the quarterback of the future. Unless Bradford gets hurt, again, Rosen needs to see more film than playing time. The investment is too high a price to be squandered because of rushing him into the spotlight too soon.