Evaluating the rookie quarterbacks with three weeks to go

#4 Josh Rosen

Rosen actually delivered some bullets to move the offence just outside field goal range

By far the most frustration for any offense and their rookie quarterback has taken place in Arizona. The Cardinals brought in career journeymen Sam Bradford and Mike Glennon in March before even having any idea about what could happen in the draft.

Sitting at number 10 overall with the Browns, Giants, Jets, Broncos and Bills all ahead of them and little draft capital to move up, there was a good chance that this team could have ended up with none of the four favorite quarterbacks.

However, with the Giants deciding to stick with Eli Manning for another year and the Broncos going with edge rusher over signal-caller after having signed Case Keenum to a deal, Arizona didn’t have to do anything but sit there and have UCLA star-quarterback Josh Rosen fall right into their lap.

However, they decided to start the season off with Bradford and that lasted less than three full games before they trotted their rookie out there.

In a very peculiar spot, down 16-14 with about four minutes left against the league’s number one defense in the Bears, Rosen saw his first regular season action and was immediately asked to lead them to a victory from behind.

Rosen actually delivered some bullets to move the offence just outside field goal range, but was intercepted on a good fourth down attempt. The week after that he was named the starter and he hasn’t left the lineup ever since.

In his first start ever against the Seahawks I saw some impressive stuff from the rook, delivering supremely accurate passes on all three levels, just threading the needle on a multitude of them, even though a bunch of them were dropped, knocked away late or ruled incomplete due to one foot not coming down in bounds.

He came up big for them on crucial situations and the only thing that held the Cardinals back from winning that game was their own coaching staff not allowing their young signal-caller to get it done late with his arm, but instead deciding to run the ball three straight times around the opposing 30-yard line and ultimately missing the go-ahead field goal, even though it was the rookie that led them down there.

The week after that Rosen got his first career win versus the 49ers and even though the numbers might not have been that good, he took good care of the ball and hooked up with rookie teammate Christian Kirk for a huge 75-yard touchdown for the game’s first score.

Over the next two games, the team took a huge bump, as they lost by ten at the Vikings and were blown out 45-10 at home by the Broncos.

Rosen threw just one touchdown and four picks during that stretch, but I thought the numbers didn’t really tell the truth. Especially against the Broncos I thought he played much better than those horrendous stats indicated.

On his first pick-six the ball was batted up in the air at the line and on the second one the wideout inexplicably just stopped running on a slant route. Outside of that third one in the fourth quarter, when he just tried to force a big play to Kirk at last, Rosen was on time and target on curls, hooks, comebacks and other timing-based routes.

Following that demolition the Cardinals finally decided to fire their Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy.

It was not just Sam Bradford early on that willingly checked the ball down to his backs over and over again without even trying to look downfield, but also McCoy’s conservative play-calling that hindered his rookie quarterback.

The run design lacked creativity in a big way, being limited to simple dive and ISO plays for the most part, there were no vertical stretches of the defense and he just could not find ways to put the ball into the hands of the few of playmakers they had in space.

Moreover, the supporting cast for the Cards might have been even worse than the Bills’. They are dead-last in yards after the catch, barely cracking the 1000-yard mark. In comparison to that – the 49ers have almost double that amount despite playing with a backup QB and limitations at the skill spots as well.

However what really stands out about McCoy’s stint in Arizona is the way he could not put his best player David Johnson in position to succeed. Before DJ missed almost all of last season, there might have been two guys I would have taken above him if you made me choose a running back.

Yet, in seven games under their ex-OC he was limited to 72 yards from scrimmage per game on an average of just 18 touches, giving him less than four yards per touch. This has also led to the lowest number in time of possession at 26:17 a game, as they have gained an average of just 4.6 first downs on the ground.

While the offense has improved to some degree under Byron Leftwich, I think it is almost unfair to evaluate Rosen like the other guys, because not only the players around him on offense but also the play-calling for large stretches has been so incredibly bad.

He is ranked among the bottom five in percentage of third downs converted via the pass, but he has faced a large amount of third-and-long situations. When it was third-and-eight or more he has completed 28.9 percent of his passes.

I still love Rosen’s touch and internal confidence. He is extremely smart and not afraid to let it rip. If you look beyond the numbers and win totals, even though they won at Lambeau field two weeks ago, you see some franchise quarterback traits.

The organization just needs to surround Rosen with more playmakers and make things easier with coordinator help.