The San Francisco 49ers cut backup quarterback Josh Rosen, who was competing for the third-string position. The former UCLA star known as “Chosen Rosen” is currently unclaimed off the waiver wire.
The 49ers moved up in the 2021 NFL Draft to select Trey Lance with the third overall pick. Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo are competing for the starting job. In the battle to be the third-string QB, Nate Sudfeld outplayed Rosen after a poor showing from Rosen in San Francisco’s first preseason game.
In 20 total NFL games, Rosen threw 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He completed only 54.8% of his passes.
As a rookie with the Arizona Cardinals, Rosen went 3-10 as a starter. The franchise lost confidence in him, which is why they picked Kyler Murray with the #1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Cardinals traded Rosen to the Miami Dolphins, where he expected to compete for the starting job with Ryan Fitzpatrick.
After the Dolphins benched FitzMagic, Rosen started the next three games and went 0-3. The Dolphins benched him and reinstalled Fitzpatrick as the starter. Rosen never started another NFL game. The Dolphins selected Tua Tagovailoa in the 2020 NFL Draft and tried to trade Rosen, but no one wanted him.
The Dolphins waived Rosen and he bounced around as a practice squad player last season with the Tampa Bay Bucs and the San Francisco 49ers. Rosen joined the 49ers on their active roster for the final two games as the third-string quarterback, but he didn’t see any action.
Overrated Chosen Rosen
Rosen, 24, was nicknamed “Chosen Rosen” during his halcyon collegiate days at UCLA where he was considered one of the top quarterback prospects in college football. At one point leading up to the 2018 NFL Draft, some pundits projected Rosen as the #1 pick in the draft ahead of Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, and Lamar Jackson.
Five quarterbacks were drafted in the first round that year. The Cleveland Browns selected Mayfield from Oklahoma with the #1 pick in the draft. The Jets snubbed Rosen and drafted Sam Darnold, who played for his crosstown rival USC, with the third overall pick. The Buffalo Bills picked Josh Allen from Wyoming with the #7 pick.
A disappointed Rosen saw his draft stock plummet before the Arizona Cardinals selected him with the 10th overall pick. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens might have gotten the steal of the draft when they picked Jackson, a Heisman Trophy winner from Louisville, with the last pick in the first round.
Class ’18 draft bust
Rosen failed compared to the other highly-touted four quarterbacks from the 2018 NFL Draft, three of whom went on to at least one playoff game. Mayfield guided the Browns to an 11-5 record in 2020 and snagged their first playoff berth in 18 seasons.
Darnold’s career sputtered thanks to Adam Gase who nearly shattered his confidence with the LOL Jets over the past two seasons. But that nightmare is over, and Darnold earned a second chance with the Carolina Panthers this season. Allen, meanwhile, has become a cult figure in western New York state and parts of Canada after he led the Bills to back-to-back postseason berths and their first playoff victory since 1995.
Jackson had a sensational rookie season with the Ravens and went 30-7 as a starter. He struggled in the playoffs with a 1-3 record over the last three seasons, but he’s had an outstanding career so far as a dual-threat quarterback. Jackson also appeared on the cover of Madden 21, which is one of the biggest honors in the video game realm.
Meanwhile, Rosen went 3-13 as a starter with the Cardinals and Dolphins and stunk so badly that both teams drafted a quarterback in the first round to replace him. It’s safe to say Rosen is the biggest bust out of the five first-round quarterbacks from the Class of 2018.