Arizona Cardinals: Viewing Josh With Rosen Colored Glasses?

Murray mania isn’t giving the Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback fair shake.

Everyone take a deep breath.  I know you aren’t prepared for this, but this is not another article about the heir apparent #1 pick in the upcoming NFL draft, Kyler Murray.  What?  “I didn’t think a sports writer was allowed to write about anything except Murray for the duration of 2019?”  Oh well, I’ve never been known for following the rules.

You’ve probably forgotten that Murray wasn’t even considered a viable NFL option a little over a month ago.  Don’t believe me?  Refresh your memory with this article on NFL.com from mid-February where Murray announced via Twitter that he was entering the NFL draft.

Kyler went from zero to NFL hero rapidly, defying the pundits that were all convinced he would play baseball after being drafted ninth overall by the Oakland A’s.  As often happens in the NFL, the stars aligned for some unexplained reason and Murray instantly became “The Chosen One.”  Hmm… that name sounds familiar.

While no one, including myself, is disputing the fact that Murray is very talented, there is a big gap between being talented and being the “be-all end-all” of future NFL quarterbacks.  Murray still has a lot to prove and that isn’t even taking into consideration the possible distractions of trying to play baseball and football simultaneously.  To deny the Bo Jackson/Deion Sanders attraction Murray is certainly feeling would be foolish; it would be there for anyone.  Wait, I said this wasn’t another article about Kyler Murray.  So…

Josh Rosen.  Remember that guy?  If you listen to sports talk radio across the country, you probably don’t.  He is all but forgotten unless being talked about as “trade bait.”  For again, unknown reasons, the media experts have determined that the Cardinals will absolutely, certainly, without question, draft Murray and discard Rosen.

While the Murray to Arizona sentiment is premature and quite honestly, puzzling, that’s the narrative of the day.  Anyone who swims upstream to that idea is tagged as someone who “doesn’t know football” or “doesn’t understand how the draft works.”  Hmm…

Well, I do understand how the draft works and I like to think that I do know a little bit about football.  I’m also just jaded enough to take anything that media tries to force upon me with a grain of salt.  That being said, the media is constantly reminding you that Josh Rosen was a disappointment in 2018, but is that actually true?  I don’t think so.