Originally posted by dj43:
I recently came across an article about how Patrick Mahomes came to be drafted by the Chiefs. In a nutshell, his agent, Leigh Steinberg, encouraged KC GM Brett Veach to draft Mahomes because he saw the three necessary components for a young QB to have success. Here is a quote from the article:
"Steinberg, a longtime agent who in the 1990s represented a gaggle of star quarterbacks, believed fit mattered more than draft position. He sought for Mahomes an organization with an experienced and welcoming incumbent quarterback he could learn from; a coach who understood how to groom quarterbacks; a stable franchise; and a solid offensive line and quality skill players. In Alex Smith, Andy Reid and the Chiefs, Steinberg saw an ideal fit."
Rosen didn't fit in AZ for all of the reasons Steinberg mentioned.
There are some concerns about Rosen but the Cardinals put him in about as bad of a position as you can put a rookie QB in. Like all the stuff you're not supposed to do when developing a young quarterback, they went and did.
-Failure to find a quality bridge QB. Sam Bradford came in, played like he was ready to retire and Rosen got thrown into action sooner than expected
-Awful offensive coaching staff. Mike McCoy was fired after 6 games in Denver last year. So naturally the Cardinals brought him in and he bumbled his way through 6 games before getting canned. Byron Leftwich did slightly better but he was an inexperienced, first-time playcaller that somewhat reminded me of Mike Johnson when he took over for the 49ers in 2010. Improvement, still not great.
-Terrible offensive line. You have a QB who already isn't super mobile, they let him get his face kicked in repeatedly. Keim has been dropping big FA $ and draft picks on OL left and right and it was an absolute and utter debacle. Not sure how they are going to fix it but they have too many mediocre players as well as overpaid, injury prone guys(Iupati and Pugh).
-Possibly the worst receiver group in football. Fitz is still Fitz, although he's noticeably lost a step. Christian Kirk was solid for the most part but had an issue with drops. Every other receiver on the roster was straight garbage and incredibly unreliable. Crucial third down drops were a constant theme throughout the season.
-Lack of run game. This overlaps with the OL since they couldn't really pass or run block but David Johnson was well off his previous career averages. He struggled coming back after being injured last year. No dependable run game put even more pressure on Rosen.
Truthfully I have no idea how good Rosen can be due to how badly the situation around him was completely FUBARed. He does have a tendency to overthrow passes and he seems to especially need a relatively clean pocket to produce consistently but I expect better performance from him next season, especially if the Cardinals can upgrade their OL and receiver group.