The first two seasons of Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Josh Rosen’s career has been very interesting. After being selected 10th overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2018 NFL Draft, Rosen, who started 13 games as a rookie, was expected to be the team’s franchise quarterback. But after one season and a coaching change in Arizona, which led to the Cardinals selecting QB Kyler Murray with the number one overall pick in the 2019 draft, Rosen was traded to the Dolphins.
In Miami, Rosen began the season as the starter, but after three games, he was benched in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick, and in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins would select QB Tua Tagovailoa in the first round. In early September, Rosen was waived by the Dolphins, and a few days later, Rosen was signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad.
Now, Rosen has a chance to learn from Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians and maybe the greatest quarterback of all-time in Tom Brady, which is exciting to the former UCLA product.
“It’s a privilege. It’s a privilege to be in a room with such a great quarterback,” Rosen said on Thursday. “I’ve never played for the Buccaneers before, obviously, but it feels a little bit like home with a couple familiar faces from Arizona. It’s nice to come take a breath and get to really learn some football from some of the best to ever do it coaching, and probably one of the best to ever do it playing.”
Obviously, it has been a struggle for the 23-year old Rosen, and he points to the time when the Dolphins benched him after three games as a turning point in his career.
“I think, for me, the turning point was getting benched in Miami after three games,” Rosen said. “That was like a big look in the mirror sort of situation for me where I kind of was like, ‘I’m literally playing behind probably one of the smartest quarterbacks to ever do it (Ryan Fitzpatrick), and you’re not absorbing information like you should.’ I was trying to be as self-critical as I could be and identify the problem. I was like, ‘I’m just going to see what this dude does. I’m going to mirror his schedule. I’m going to try and take every note that I possibly can.’ I started seeing the game very differently and going up to the line of scrimmage with a much better plan than I ever had before, and it started to show in practice. Film started to make a lot more sense to me. I thought I made some strides in practice through the end of last year, and I felt like I played really well at Miami’s training camp this year actually and was pretty proud of the work I put out there, which was encouraging to me.
“With this next step coming here to Tampa, obviously there aren’t training camp-like reps to go around, but you can always get better in any capacity. I think I’m just looking to continue on that improvement. Fitz has his style of play, and Tom [Brady] has his style of play, and they’re very different. I, myself, plan on having a different style of play, but it’s really interesting getting to understand those Mondays on explanations for why certain guys go certain places, and I’m really looking forward to getting here and getting to just experience how Tom goes about it.”
What happens with Rosen is anybody’s guess, but this is an excellent opportunity for him in Tampa Bay. Hopefully, for Rosen, he can seize the moment.
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