Arizona Cardinals rookie quarterback passes first test

Josh Rosen’s preseason debut wasn’t an outstanding one, but the Arizona Cardinals rookie certainly has a bright future ahead

The Arizona Cardinals have had a boatload of attention paid to them this offseason. Their rookie quarterback, Josh Rosen, is a huge reason for much of the hoopla. This past Saturday night, the “Red Sea” finally got an opportunity to see what the future of their franchise can do on the playing field.

Rosen entered the contest against the Los Angeles Chargers to a round of applause in the first quarter, and ran the Cardinals offense until halftime. Those of us that were hoping for fireworks from our first-year player were mildly disappointed. Nevertheless, the youngest member of the Cards, a 21-year-old did nothing to make anyone think that he doesn’t have a bright future ahead of him.

Well, that’s not entirely true. There was the throw in the second quarter by Rosen that should’ve resulted in a pick-six. A potentially disastrous scenario that was prevented only by the Charger defender’s failure to secure the interception.

On the opposite end of that spectrum, however, was a pretty 21-yard bullet to tight end Gabe Holmes, just minutes prior to that ill-advised toss. There was also an impressive backshoulder rope to wide receiver Greg Little that was ruled incomplete after a replay. Strong, accurate passes that gave Arizona’s faithful a taste of what they can look forward to with Rosen, hopefully for the next decade or so.

Rosen’s first professional appearance could have been much more memorable if the team’s second-string offensive line had decided to show up for Los Angeles. The group’s blocking was atrocious, leaving the young signal caller with very little time to operate coordinator Mike McCoy‘s offense. Rosen was under duress on quite a few of his dropbacks, and center Daniel Munyer‘s consistently low shotgun snaps threw off the passer’s timing.

Rosen will have a chance to turn in a better performance this Friday, when the Cardinals visit the New Orleans Saints. The former UCLA Bruin has been promised snaps with the Cards’ first-team unit. Rosen should fare much better with Justin Pugh and company protecting him up front, and Larry Fitzgerald and the other top pass-catchers receiving his pass attempts.

All of the critics who are already firing shots at Rosen need to chill out. A career cannot be judged on one meaningless exhibition matchup. As those on the Rosen bandwagon would tell you, “you ain’t seen nothing yet”.