Why the Pittsburgh Steelers Should Take a Flier on Josh Rosen

Scott Long

9/5/20

Not all careers start off smoothly, particularly in the NFL. Adjusting to the NFL after being a top ranked prospect is something that is very difficult for many players, as the level of competition drastically rises. Many of those who struggle out of the gate do not recover and never have the career they were expected to have, but others do recover and wind up living up to or even exceeding expectations.

One of these players whose career has gotten off to a rocky start is quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen was the selected by the 10th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. Draft scouts touted Rosen as a “pro-ready” quarterback after being one of the few quarterbacks capable of running a pro-style offense. However, things did not work out so well for Rosen and the Cardinals as they finished 3-10 with him under center and he was sacked 45 times his rookie year. To make things worse, the Cardinals decided to revamp their coaching staff bringing in offensive minded Kliff Kingsbury, whose offensive system at Texas Tech was nearly identical to the one ran by top prospect Kyler Murray from Oklahoma. This siganled the writing on the wall for Rosen who was shipped off to the Miami Dolphins in excahnge for a 2019 second round pick and a 2020 fifth round pick, as Kingsbury then selected Kyler Murray with first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Unfortunately for Rosen, things didn’t improve much for him once he arrived in Miami, as he only started 3 games and appeared in only 6 games. Then, just like in Arizona, Miami was in line for a top pick and opted to select Tua Tagovailoa out of Alabama fifth overall as his replacement. After failing to find a trade partner, the Dolphins waived Rosen, who cleared waivers and is now waiting for his next oppurtunity.

While, his career has been a disappointment thus far, Rosen is still only 23 years old and has the same upside he’s always had. If a team gives him a shot and he can rebuild his confidence he could be an integral part of their future. One team that could sign Rosen is the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have little depth at quarterback after Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger is 38 years old, and may not have many years left in his career, especially after coming off elbow surgery in the offseason. Roethlisberger was hurt for most of last season, when the Steelers were forced to have Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges try to fill the void. The team had hope that Rudolph would be the future at quarterback, but after a subpar showing last year during his extended oppurtunity, that belief seems to have faded, particularly after being benched for Hodges. Hodges exceeded expectations after signing as an undrafted free agent, but projects more as a backup. Despite its struggles at the quarterback position last season, the team still finished 8-8 and just missed the playoffs.

This is where Rosen comes in, as the team could use someone different at the quarterback position in case Roethlisberger gets hurt again this season. With a strong defense like the Steelers possess, Rosen would not be needed to put up huge numbers if he was forced to start, rather he’d be asked to merely manage the game. As a game manager and with weapons such as James Conner, Juju Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson, Rosen could finally have a situation where the pressure isn’t all on him, which could help his confidence. Additionally, if Rosen succeds in this role he could possibly be viewed as the team’s long term answer at quarterback, allowing the Steelers to use this year’s draft pick to shore up a hole somewhere else.

If Rosen doesn’t work out the Steelers could always just cut him after the season or keep him as a backup and find Roethlisberger’s successor via the draft. Either way signing Rosen would represent a low risk high reward signing for Pittsburgh that would also greatly benefit Rosen. The Steelers have a strong roster and must start to plan for life after Roethlisberger, so they can compete after he retires, because after all, he’s not going to play forever.