Cardinals QB Josh Rosen ‘pissed off’ for falling to No. 10 in NFL Draft

In the weeks leading up to the 2018 NFL Draft, former UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen was viewed as being one of the top quarterbacks in this year’s class. This has pushed him up being widely considered one of first few players off the board on Thursday night.

However, he slid a bit down the first round to the 10th overall spot where he was taken by the Arizona Cardinals, who moved up from the 15th overall pick in a trade with the Oakland Raiders. Following being selected, Rosen wasted little time in making it known that it bothered him that he wasn’t chosen in the top three selections, according to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com.

“I thought I should’ve been picked at 1, 2 or 3,” Rosen said. “I dropped, and I was pissed. I was really, really angry. I wasn’t really showing it. I was trying to keep calm, cool, composed. But I thought I was going to get picked, and I thought I was going to have to put on a face and try and fake happiness. But for some reason, right when I got that call, that’s not what happened. I got really happy and really motivated.

“All I wanted to do was basically get on a plane right then and go straight to Arizona and start working. It was definitely a surprise when I got that phone call in terms of the emotions I was feeling. But I think everything happens for a reason.”

Rosen had previously stated that it didn’t matter to him where he was taken in this year’s draft as long as he was selected in the first round. It was a slight fall in the first round, but he has landed in a potentially great situation where he could quickly earn the starting job with his only true competition being Sam Bradford, who the team signed to a one-year, $20 million deal in free agency.

The 21-year-old also has the chance to play alongside to elite talents in the league in All-Pro wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Pro Bowl running back David Johnson. The team also possesses a defense that has several playmakers that could make a difference.

This was no slight to Rosen’s talent but rather health concerns given that he suffered a pair of concussions at the collegiate level. If there is anything he can take away from this experience is that he has plenty of motivation to live up to the huge expectations he has placed in front of himself.