From Chosen to Frozen: Josh Rosen’s NFL Journey
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
"Nine mistakes were made ahead of me…And I will make sure over the next decade or so that they will know that they made a mistake." – Josh Rosen.
Former UCLA Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen made it known to that the world on draft night back in 2018 that he was annoyed. The quarterback felt he should not have fell in that year’s draft. After such a brash statement, Rosen had the opportunity to prove to the NFL that they were wrong selecting him 10th. Unfortunately, partially due to circumstances beyond his control, he lost that opportunity.
In his rookie season, a one year stint with the Arizona Cardinals, Rosen was setup for failure. Head coach Steve Wilks in one season with the Cardinals was not given enough time to change that team around.
On the offensive side, Rosen’s best receiver was a 35-year-old Larry Fitzgerald. He was also sacked 45 times, which was the sixth most during the 2018 season. On top of that then Cardinals running back David Johnson came off a season ending wrist injury in 2017 and as overworked in the 2018 season to salvage the poor job Cardinals’ general manager Steve Keim did team building.
Instead of building around his 10th pick, Keim shipped out Rosen to the Miami Dolphins and fired Wilks, starting anew in Arizona. The failed experiment in Arizona hindered and stunt the potential growth of Rosen’s ability.
From one bad team to another, during his time with the Dolphins Rosen played in only six games. He started three of the six games and lost all three of them. That 2019 Dolphins team started their season off 0-7 but managed to end the season off as 5-11 thanks to Ryan Fitzpatrick who led the team in both passing and rushing yards that year.
Brynn Anderson/AP
With being in bad situations in back-to-back seasons, Rosen fell under the radar competing for spots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers practice squads. He did manage to get a roster spot with the 49ers for the last two games of the regular season but was ultimately waived on August 17, 2021.
It was not until the 2021 season that he got another chance to see the field with the Atlanta Falcons. He was brought in after second string quarterback AJ McCarron suffered a season ending injury. Rosen was now the backup and had opportunities to play the relief to then Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.
In his relieving role, Rosen played in four games, completed 2-11 passes, and threw two interceptions. One of his interceptions was a pick six in their Week 11 shutout loss against the New England Patriots.
Rosen signed with the Cleveland Browns to battle with quarterback Josh Dobbs for the third string position.
When looking back at his days in UCLA where he broke the school’s single season passing yards record and had the nickname “Chosen Rosen” and “Chosen One”, his poor translation to the NFL has been well documented. Cardinals’ general manager Steve Keim has a lot to do with Rosen’s initial struggles in the NFL, but Rosen has not shown that fire to improve on the field yet either.
Rosen is only 25 years old, so he still has time to turn his career around. Given the Browns situation with quarterback Deshaun Watson, maybe Rosen could see some snaps this upcoming season. However, it seems unlikely.
