Did something change today? Only for those who think every detail matters. Let's just say I'm not a fan of that type.
The anti-Rosen crowd is a lot more wired and unhinged than anyone who backed the Rosen move. As soon as anything points to Fitzpatrick they jump in and insist that's all you need to know, that the die is cast. That was true in practice June and it's feverish based on one quarter last Sunday. The same types who were saying nothing at all a few weeks ago when Fitzpatrick was replaced by Rosen -- and Preston Williams was dropping Rosen's perfect passes -- are now in near exaltation to proclaim certainty again. I even saw a normally sharp and even-keeled stats guy on another site gleefully point to the 4th quarter last week as ultimate proof. That was greatest evidence of all toward how this variable is viewed, because otherwise no chance that guy even contemplates a post like that, let alone goes through with it.
Rosen was awful last week. Borderline incompetent. Easily his worst performance. The game started out with both defenses suffocating everything. That happens sometimes. But once it logically settled into a normal game after about one quarter Keenum regained normalcy while Rosen was still ducking and pouting. It doesn't shock me because the situational nature of what he is feeling is easy to grasp. Rosen is not being treated unfairly. That is wildly overblown. But he's a sharp thoughtful young guy so undoubtedly he is weighing what is going on, instead of robotically marching out there without a care in the world, a la Ryan Tannehill or Ryan Fitzpatrick. Rosen's Cardinals weren't trying to lose. Now he looks around and realizes best players are being traded and long term fans -- like myself -- are desperate for losses. A scenario like that doesn't equate to peak effort or performance from guys who are still here and trying to win. I guarantee Rosen senses that as well, that these Dolphins are not trying as hard as last year's Cardinals. Most likely the practices and game preparation are not as intense. Obviously he can't say any of this right now. But when he's on a third different team in three years counting college then obviously comparisons are abundant. None of his long preparation toward pro football anticipated anything like this.
We'd be rank morons to think that Minkah Fitzpatrick wanted out as soon as possible but otherwise everything is lovely.
The stories of 2019 will surface much later and the anecdotal realities will be much lower and more shocking than anything we envision right now. This is not a normal team.
Josh Rosen is a heck of a lot better than he has shown, or that this scenario allows. That's what I'm saying. That's what the detail guys are guaranteed to miss. It doesn't matter how he compares to habituated Ryan Fitzpatrick circa October 2019. When Rosen is confident you get efforts like the end of the Texas A&M game. He's been highly rated throughout his life. If the Dolphins are astute they will wade through this and value Josh Rosen.
