Whatever concerns others might have had about Josh Rosen's personality or leadership skills, the Cardinals don't have them. They wouldn't have traded up Thursday night to get the quarterback, otherwise. GM Steve Keim was feeling good about it, having his own mic-drop moment to close out his Rosen press conference after he was asked about the fact Rosen had a hot tub (inflatable) in his dorm room at UCLA.
"Wish I had one," Keim deadpanned.
Keim used to say that about a (potential) long-term answer at quarterback. He doesn't have to wish anymore.
For all the slings and arrows the GM has absorbed -- and many are fair criticisms -- the biggest was that he didn't find a successor for Carson Palmer. And while there was a certain amount of good fortune that played into it Thursday, Keim indeed found that guy only a few months after Palmer retired, and he has a bridge guy in Sam Bradford to help the Cardinals in the short term. That the Cards didn't have to spend their second-round pick or next year's first rounder was simply the best-case scenario. The Cards still have two picks Friday thanks to that third-round compensatory selection earned from losing Calais Campbell as a free agent.
As for Rosen, nothing has changed from all the speculation prior to the draft. No one knows for sure who the best QB will be from the five selected in the first round. Maybe Rosen will be it. He certainly made no bones about the fact he thought he should've been the first picked. He'll have a chance to show everyone why. (Really, to "drop" to 10 isn't horrible. It wasn't like Aaron Rodgers dropping to 24 when he thought he should go first. Rodgers turned out to be right.)
He's known for being outspoken, but Steve Wilks said he loves Rosen's personality. Rosen isn't stupid. He knows what he's walking into, and his place as a rookie. He's not going to sit in a corner in silence, but he's smart enough to get it.
"I want to be me and the Arizona Cardinals know what they are getting," Rosen said. "They are not getting a kid that is going to say stupid things and piss people off unnecessarily."
They are getting a kid who might just be that quarterback everyone has been waiting for.
