As awkward as that picture above is, the Kyler Murray era has officially begun in Arizona, after the Cardinals dealt Josh Rosen away late in the 2nd round on Friday. After a horrendous rookie season, throwing 2,278 passing yards with 11 touchdowns to 14 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 55%, Arizona blew up everything. On top of that, Rosen had put himself in hot water multiple times with off the field comments at UCLA and even in Arizona. They cleaned house, and that included the head coach and their former 1st round pick from last year. Miami was willing to take on the risk, but could this be a blessing in disguise for Miami though?
Coming out of UCLA, some scouts considered Rosen better than the likes of Darnold and Josh Allen and was the most pro ready quarterback in the class. He came into a team looking for an upgrade at quarterback, and a brand new head coach in Steve Wilks.
Last season Rosen was chased and bullied behind the line of scrimmage all year long, being sacked a whopping 45 times. Nearly their entire offensive line wound up finishing the season on IR, and when healthy, they still weren’t going to be considered an elite group. The injuries didn’t spot there either. Rosen had his most explosive target in Christian Kirk, break his foot in a win against Green Bay, one of the only bright spots in the Cardinals season. They also lost receiving back, D.J. Foster, for the season due to a knee injury, and Chad Williams even battling injuries throughout the season.
Before he knew it, Rosen was quarterbacking a roster that could barely compete in the NFL. Everything that could go wrong for the Cardinals did, and to put that all on Josh Rosen is unfair.
The Miami Dolphins gave a 2nd round pick for the best quarterback in this draft class. If Rosen was available in this year’s class, he would be the best prospect, without question. Along with him, they added Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins in the 1st round, and Andrew Van Ginkel in the 5th round to help put some pressure on the quarterback in 2019. In the 3rd round the Dolphins selected versatile offensive lineman Michael Dieter, who played left tackle, left guard, and center for the Badgers in his 4 year career. In the 6th round they selected tackle, Isaiah Prince from Ohio State, who has the potential to become a starter in the NFL. Additionally, the Dolphins signed Preston Williams, who was viewed as a 3rd round pick but off the field issues caused him to fall out the draft.
Mix all that together with their offensive weapons like DeVante Parker Kenny Stills and Kenyan Drake, The Dolphins have a solid set of building blocks offensively. The injuries in Arizona were a problem, but so were the amount of drops the Cardinals receivers had. As stated earlier, Rosen had a gross 55.6% completion percentage during his rookie season. What wasn’t stated was how his adjusted completion percentage when including drops and thrown away passes skyrockets up to 72%. Of course it would be naive for me to think Rosen could carry a 72% even in a perfect offense, but going from the 8th worst team in dropped pass to the 27th should be beneficial.
When all is said and done, I think we will look back on this trade situation similarly to how we view the Eli Manning saga from 2004. Both parties will be just fine, and personally, I think Rosen is in a better spot in Miami than he was in Arizona. I trust Brian Flores a lot more than I do Kliff Kingsbury.
Flores was on the New England Patriots coaching staff since 2006, and was even given the role of calling the Pats defensive plays for 2018, though still being under the title of linebackers coach. On top of that, their offensive coordinator is Jim Caldwell, who has plenty of head coaching and quarterback coaching to help Rosen develop. Josh Rosen is going to come into 2019 with an even bigger fire under him, and is going to have a lot of people he wants to silence. At his introductory press conference he said the chip on his shoulder shouldn’t move or he might start tipping over, and that show the kind of mindset Rosen will carry into the 2019 season. With a owner that has been preaching about his patient game plan for Dolphins for going on two seasons now, I think Rosen could pull a Brett Favre and make people wonder why was he traded in the first place. Only time will tell, but I sure am excited for the 2019 NFL season to get underway.