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The Arizona Cardinals are on the verge of making a colossal mistake, which means they’ll probably make it, because they’re the Arizona Cardinals. That’s right, the Cleveland Browns have vacated the title of league-wide punching bag, and the Cardinals seem to be dead set on taking the baton and running with it like a 4X100 anchor leg.

A year ago, Cardinals general manager Steve Keim traded up (first, third and fifth round picks) to select Josh Rosen 10th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. Zona’s twisted idea of helping their new young signal-caller — the quarterback with the consensus best mechanics, natural passing ability, footwork and smarts in the draft — included promptly hurling him into a situation where he was destined to struggle. Consequently, he is now is on the verge of being replaced as the Cards’ QB of the future.

With the hire of terminated Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury to the same post (straight out of left field), speculation is running rampant that Arizona will select Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray with the #1 overall pick next month. Why? Because Kingsbury runs the air raid offense, whose concepts play greater to Murray’s strengths. And because Kingsbury said this just weeks ago…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU_5RvjQCZg

But a selection of Murray in ’19 is by definition an admission of error in Rosen’s selection in ’18.

Consider though the circumstances Rosen faced this past season.

His first game action came when was hastily thrown into a two-point contest with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter against the league’s best defense. He would face a total of four of the league’s top 10 teams in total defense, and five of the games he appeared in were against a top 11 defense in fewest points allowed.

Following his fifth game in the NFL, Rosen’s offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy, was relieved of his duties. His (defensive-minded) head coach, Steve Wilks, was let go after just one season on the job. None of this is foreign territory for the UCLA product though.

Amazingly, the support, or lack thereof, surrounding Josh Rosen on the field was far more troubling. Zona’s defense ranked 26th in points allowed. Outside of Larry Fitzgerald, his receiving corp was among the worst in football, ranking 31st of 32 teams entering last season, according to Pro Football Focus (at least Bleacher Report had them ranked 29th). Need proof of their struggles? According to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell and NFL Next Gen Stats, as of mid-December, only 34.4 percent of Rosen’s throws went to open receivers, the worst rate in the league for quarterbacks with at least 200 attempts.

Running back David Johnson averaged a paltry 3.6 yards per carry in 2018, and all of the issues on offense can be boiled down to their nightmare of an offensive line. Apart from being not overly-talented, everyone on Arizona’s O-line got injured, and we know continuity along the offensive line is vital to a team’s success.

As Barnwell put it, “If anyone deserves a mulligan out of this group (of rookie quarterbacks), it’s Rosen.” The Ringer’s Robert Mays was even more blunt about the situation: “It’s not out of the question to say it’s the worst set of circumstances a highly drafted rookie quarterback has been dropped into in recent memory.”

Knowing the Cardinals, either through inept management or bad luck, set Rosen up to fail in every conceivable way (no line, no receivers, no defense, no running game, multiple offensive coordinators, lame duck head coach, thrown in under stressful circumstances, challenging schedule), it doesn’t make sense to throw in the towel on a prospect that Arizona invested so much into, unless a “can’t-miss” prospect is coming down the pike.

Kyler Murray is not a “can’t miss” prospect.

Athletic and exciting? Sure. Put up numbers in college? Absolutely. But his size is a huge red flag, regardless of how much you hear “size doesn’t matter at QB anymore” leading up to the NFL Draft. Murray is “measuring” at 5’10” and 207 pounds. But it’s possible he’ll be playing closer to 200 when the games start, and they’re speculation the books have already been cooked regarding the Heisman winner’s height. Add in his reported sub-par interview and whiteboard skills, and his ability to convert to a pro baseball player at any turn, and you have the makings of anything but a sure thing. The risk is just too great.

If the Cardinals aren’t smart enough to see what they have in Chosen Rosen, another team will. That team should be the Redskins, Giants, Dolphins or maybe even the Patriots. While the numbers and wins weren’t there, Rosen showed flashes of what made him a top 10 pick.

Sidebar: Far too many fans and pundits concluded Rosen just isn’t good following his rookie campaign, but let the Patriots trade for him and watch that narrative flip immediately, even before we ever see him in the New England “system”. 

Let Josh Rosen serve as a cautionary tale for the new generation of GMs and front office execs who might not have been around for Tim Couch, David Carr or other unsuccessful neophytes at the position. When your young quarterback does not receive support, it will not work. “Support” includes not allowing him to be subjected to a myriad of trade rumors. Young athletes don’t like that, either (ask the Lakers). And if too many games float by where your QB is left looking like a Thanksgiving turkey at 3:30 to opposing defenses, he’ll morph into damaged goods soon enough, incapable of being repaired.

Another franchise can roll the dice on Murry; let’s hope for the Cardinals’ sake they don’t allow Josh Rosen’s scar tissue to override the talent.