Cardinals Get Their Guy
In a pick that should have happened years ago, the Arizona Cardinals finally made a move and traded up for their quarterback of the future, UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen unexpectedly slid down the draft board until pick 10, providing an opportunity for Arizona to move up from 15 in a deal with the Oakland Raiders. Outside of Rosen’s arm, the best part of this deal is the fact that Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim gave up next to nothing to move up. “Keim Time” swapped first round picks with Oakland, and the Cardinals threw in a third (2018) and fifth round pick (2018). While Keim has certainly made some brilliant moves, fans were getting restless with the lack of building for the future at the quarterback position. Signing an aging, oft-injured quarterback in Sam Bradford, didn’t necessarily help put fans at ease. The move for Rosen and the ability to hang on to Friday’s second and third round picks should quiet most of those naysayers. Now the Cardinals can look to add depth at corner or receiver in day two.
Watch just a few minutes of tape on “Chosen Rosen”, and you will see a quarterback who can make all the throws. So why did the prospect who many had selected to go number one overall just a short time ago fall to the 10th pick? Was it health concerns? His attitude? A combination of both? In 2016, Rosen injured his shoulder while being sacked in a game against Arizona State. The injury led to surgery and ended his season after playing only six games. The shoulder injury appeared to be a non-factor in 2017 and his numbers looked good, but Josh suffered two concussions within a month. Concussion protocol kept him out of games against Utah and the Cactus Bowl against Kansas State. If there is any consolation, UCLA got smacked in both of those games, showing just what kind of impact a healthy Rosen can have. It has been proven that when a person gets a concussion, it inherently becomes easier to get another. In a day and age where CTE is at the forefront of discussion, Rosen’s concussions were likely the reason a few teams steered clear of the risk.
For some, the decision to steer clear was based on nothing but “attitude”. Let’s face it, unless an athletes behavior is anything outside of “cookie-cutter”, they can draw what some may consider unnecessary attention to themselves. Early in the draft process, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Rosen would hesitate to enter the draft should he be an option for Cleveland at number one overall. Now while Josh may have never made these comments publicly, he certainly didn’t do anything to quell those rumors. Factor that in with the dorm room hot tub and Rosen’s choice of fashion accessories (Trump hat), and suddenly we have enough “red flags” to be considered a controversy. It’s no secret, many owners want nothing to do with controversy. They don’t just steer clear of it, they turn around and go in a completely different direction. Steve Keim and Cardinals President Michael Bidwill clearly felt differently. Maybe Rosen’s personality will be just what the Cardinals need to get them out of quarterback purgatory.
When Rosen finally made it up from the stage to the 400-level media room, he made it clear that he wasn’t happy about sliding to the 10th pick. It wasn’t an ungrateful anger, it was a motivational anger. “There were nine mistakes made ahead of me, and I will make sure over the next decade or so they will know that they made a mistake.”, said Rosen. He continued, “all I wanted to do was basically get on a plane right then and go straight to Arizona and start working.” For some, his interview only solidified the “too much attitude” persona. For others, it lit a fire. When it’s all said and done, Rosen’s attitude will be looked at as either the reason he succeeds, or the reason he fails. The only question for Arizona is, are they getting the attitude with an eventual ring like an Aaron Rodgers, or are they getting an attitude with a career losing record like Jay Cutler?
